Seeds for the Future
by Duggy
Summary: FFVIII novelisation: Chapter 34. The hard part is over in finding the legendary city of Esthar. All that they need to do is find where Ellone is so she can help Rinoa. Simple enough, surely? R&R plz
1. The Garden

Prologue

There was another clang of metal on metal as swords collided. The man looked at his opponent and watched as his eyes narrowed. He spun away, and held his sword out to defend. His opponent took a low swipe towards his legs, that he easily jumped and returned with another swing of his own, which his rival avoided, but he had to back off, and returned the assault with a glare. So far he was on top, and he knew his opponent was not happy about it, it may have only been early hours, and the light still poor, but these two men had been in so many fights, he felt he could read his facial expressions like a book.

The fight had been going on for about half an hour now, with no clear-cut victor, so equally matched were these two men. However at the sight of his opponent backing off, the man made his crucial mistake. He decided to end the fight and dive in, little realising his rival had already prepared his counter. As he dived in, he felt a sudden, heat-searing blow to his entire body, which sent him hurtling backwards, landing against a convenient rock. 

_Fire magic. _

Well that was his rival's speciality. As the flame and smoke cleared, the man looked up, getting his bearings. As his eyes finally focused, he realised his opponent was standing above him, his sword raised, his eyes narrowed and an evil, triumphant smile on his face. Before he could do anything, he felt the blade slash across his forehead, along the bridge of his nose and just under his left eye.

            Anger swelled up inside him. This had gone far enough. He had been holding back before, but if this was how it was going to go…

            With astonishing speed, he leapt to his feet, drawing his own sword up in a neat arc, directly towards his rival's face…

1. The Garden

Slowly he opened his eyes, and then shielded them when he noticed the brightness of the lights. As he did so, he noticed the bandages across his head. Looking up he saw Dr. Kadowaki looking over him, and realised he was in the infirmary.

            "How are you feeling?" she inquired

The mark across his face still burned and was quite painful. But on today, of all days….

            "Ok I guess" He responded coolly.

            "Well you seem to have come round" she nodded satisfied and then sighed. "Take it easy next time, you hear?"

            _Well I was taking it easy until..._

            "Tell that to Seifer" he retorted. Maybe he sounded rude, but he didn't care. It wasn't his fault. They'd only meant to have been training after all, and now here he was here in the infirmary on probably the most important day of his life. The day all this training had been building up to. To add insult to injury, his rival was nowhere to be seen in the infirmary.

            "That Seifer…"

            Exasperated. At least she understood how he felt.

            "Why don't you just ignore him? You might not be so lucky next time"

            "I have to train" he replied. "I can't just avoid these situations"

            "You really want to be cool? Well don't get hurt in the process!"

            ….

            "Let's see" she continued "Your instructor is Quistis, isn't it? Quistis Trepe." I'll call her for you now. Just wait there."

            As she exited the room, he lay back down and put his hand to his forehead as he overheard Dr. Kadowaki.

"Quistis? Come and get your student…. Yes, yes, his injury's not serious, it'll probably leave a scar…"

            He stopped listening and turned his head away towards the infirmary bay. As he did, he noticed a young girl looking in at him. She was about the same height as him, had short, chestnut-brown hair, was wearing a long-white skirt down to her ankles, a blue sleeveless top and long green ribbons around each wrist. Everything about her seemed to flow.

            "Squall?" she said softly "So, we meet again."

            She knew him? He sat up, and she walked off. He would have followed her, but he didn't think Dr. Kadowaki or Quistis would approve of him leaving the infirmary. Instead he lay back down and waited.

A few minutes later, the bay doors opened and in walked another woman. This time with blonde hair, tied back in regulation uniform, his instructor, and only a year older than him, Quistis Trepe. The most prodigious student in the entire academy. She looked over at him and sighed.

            "I just knew it'd be either you or Seifer." He lay back down. "Well, come on, you don't want to be late."

            _Don't want to be_… So he was going to be able to go for it after all. His injury seemed to pale away into insignificance as he leapt up out of the infirmary bed and followed Quistis down the corridor towards the main building.

            "Is there something on your mind?"

            _What the_...? He stopped and looked at her as she turned to face him. What kind of question was that to ask, on a day like this? He didn't respond, and was even more surprised when she started laughing.

            "What's so funny?" he asked.

            "Oh nothing, just happy. I just feel I'm beginning to understand my student a little better, that's all."

            "Whatever". He carried on walking. He didn't have time for this.

            "So tell me." She persisted. "Tell me more about yourself" 

What was this all of a sudden? 

            "It's…"

            "None of my business?" she finished the sentence for him and chuckled again.

            He briefly looked back at her and carried on walking. He was still trying to place the girl from the infirmary. _Squall_. She'd said his name, she knew him. But from where? He wasn't the type to get in drunken binges, hook up with a girl and forget her the next morning. Not him. He was a cut above his peers. He was only a boy really, a boy of 17, but many would mistake him for a fully-matured adult. Many others his age, were carefree, frivolous and hedonistic. Typical for teenagers at a college, or university, away from their parents, with many others their own age, in a similar position. All the usual temptations when one is cut loose for the first time. Parties, drinking, sex, and, quite frankly, not giving a shit about the real reason they were here. Not him. He was wholly dedicated to his practise, studies and, most of all, his training, and he hoped it would pay off, in his final exam today. In fact, all the partying didn't really interest him at all. No, Squall was no ordinary student. But then, this was no ordinary academy.

            This was the elite military school, Garden. One could enter as young as they liked. After years of rigorous training, they'd take the exam and graduate into the elite force known as SeeD. Once SeeDs, they would stay on at Garden and could adopt to learn to teach the others, or remain with the company, as mercenaries. Soldiers for hire. They'd be despatched all over the world, in a variety of missions. Extra numbers in a military attack. Defence for a VIP. Or even just as extra muscle at a large venue if things looked like getting too violent.

            All the same, it was still a school where youths were left on their own, and many would take advantage of this fact. Squall was quite detached from his fellow students. Not just in attitude and behaviour, but socially too. He had no real friends. No-one he'd confide in or let anyone close to. The closest person to him would be his life-long rival, Seifer. He'd known him as long as he could remember.

            Seifer was also no ordinary student. He was over-proud and had a super-ego. He felt as if he was above all his fellow students and insisted they treated him as such. He was pompous, arrogant and a bully. Along with his two best friends, Raijin and Fujin, they formed the disciplinary committee and had more than a bit of a tendency to abuse their position. Unfortunately, due to his superior air, he always believed he knew better and had thus failed his SeeD exam on more than occasion. This did not mean he was not one of the most superior fighters in the Garden.

            This was the cause between his and Squall's rivalry. They were both superb fighters, and nearly unmatched with their specialty weapon, the gunblade. It was a normal sword, except for one detail. Instead of the normal hilt, was the handle end of a revolver, which could fire ammo. The range was short, but could deliver a powerful blow, especially combined with the slash of the blade. If timed right, and used correctly, it was a devastating weapon, one which both Squall and Seifer excelled with.

            It seemed to burn Seifer up that Squall, a full year younger than him, was the only person who was a match for him with this weapon. He was so powerful and yet wouldn't show it, he appeared reluctant to fight others, weak even. And yet here he was, equal to him. It also annoyed him that Squall didn't even care for this rivalry, he just shrugged him off as if he were nothing. Their fights were merely training matches. His insults bounced off. He never rose to the bait. Maybe these were all reasons why, despite his coldness, his distance and his anti-social behaviour, Squall was actually far more popular at Garden than Seifer was. Not that Squall cared. His only ambition was to pass the SeeD exam today, and then… Well, his life would be decided for him. He would be nothing more then a pawn for others to command. That would be his life. But he didn't care. And if he did, he would never dream of showing it.

            Squall walked into the classroom ahead of Quistis and took his seat at the back of the classroom, not even looking at Seifer, who was cockily sitting across the row from him, leaning back in his chair, resting his legs up the table.

            "Sit down class" Quistis took up her position at the front. "This is not a lesson today, more of a pre-briefing.

            "As you already know, today is the SeeD exam. Candidates participating will have free time until the exam. Meet at 1600 hours in the reception area. Those not taking part and those who failed last week's written paper are to remain here in study hall. That is all.

            "Oh, and Seifer..."

Seifer looked up.

            "Do NOT injure your partner whilst training."

Squall did not look up, but heard Seifer smash his fist down onto the table.

            "Be more careful from now on. Dismissed!"

Seifer was furious! Now HE looked like the one in the wrong. He'd won the fight and yet he was being victimised, whilst Squall would be the hero! He'd be the one everyone would look up to, who the girls would fuss over, and he wouldn't even care!

            Squall meanwhile had got up, and was walking out the class, not bothering to stay and chat as usual. All of a sudden, Quistis called out to him.

            "Squall!" He turned. "You haven't been to the Fire Cavern yet, have you?"

            _I was gonna go this morning, but Seifer…_ He decided not to argue. Yes, he had genuinely meant to go earlier, would still have done so had it not been for Seifer going over the top. But then would come the usual, "_well you shouldn't have left it till the last minute_".

            "No" he said simply.

            "You won't be able to take the exam this afternoon if you don't pass this prerequisite."

            He didn't answer.

            "Let's see, it's 5 past eleven now, I'll meet you at noon outside. It should only take an hour, that gives you 3 hours free time till the exam."

            He nodded and left. He was walking down the corridor, and was just approaching the lift, when a young female student ran out from the next corridor and collided with him, knocking him straight over. She was the same age as him, but about half a head shorter, with brown hair that ran down the side of her head, but then seemed to do a U-turn back up again.

            "Sorry" she apologised. "Are you ok?"

            The second time he'd been asked in one day. Not a promising start with a serious exam only half a day away.

            "Wait a minute" she seemed worried. "Did you just come from that class back there?" She pointed at the door he'd just left. He nodded.

            "Is-is registration over?" Another nod. "Woo… Oh no! This place is SO much bigger than my last Garden!"

            Ah, a transfer student. That's why he didn't recognise her as one of his classmates. Probably here for the exam.

            "Hey, do you reckon you could show me round?"

            Well, he had an hour to kill. There wasn't much else he could do in that time. He certainly didn't feel like another training session, not after earlier

            "Sure" he replied.

            They emerged out of the lift into the main area of the Garden. He could give her a full tour, depending on how long it would take, but he'd at least show her the map, and point out all the main areas.

            He took her over.

            "The main areas are all on the ground floor." He told her. At the South end, is here, the foyer. The North end is where the dorms are. On the East Side is the car park, we usually take a car when a mission comes up." He looked at her, to make sure she was listening. "Along with the library, and the training area. The monsters are real there, so be careful."

            "Ulp, ok" she nodded.

            "On the West side, is the café, the quad and the infirmary."

            "What's the Doctor's name?"

            "Dr. Kadowaki"

            "And the headmaster?" She continued.

            "Headmaster Cid."

            He realised that he'd been thinking of showing her around, but if he took her to the infirmary, Dr. Kadowaki may want to look at him, and find a reason why he couldn't take the exam later. He also realised something else. He hadn't collected his GF.

            "It's all here on the map", he said to her. "I've got to run, I've forgotten something."

            Squall ran back into the classroom, went to his desk and turned his computer on. After sifting through all the pointless student newsletters, he finally found what he was looking for. GFs, he selected.

            **"GF's registered for user Squall"** the screen read. **"Quetzacotl and Shiva."**

He selected to draw them both and watched as the cone of pink light emanated from the terminal, forming a Draw Point. Concentrating, he focused his mind on it. In semi-meditation, he opened up the dormant areas of his mind, the Junction Pathways and allowed the two beings to flow in there and take residence, opening up new areas in his brain to give him access to Magic, the ability to heighten his Strength and other abilities, and, most importantly, to summon these creatures to help him out when he needed it.

            Closing down the computer, he left and went to meet Quistis.


	2. Fire Cavern

2. Fire Cavern

            Quistis was waiting for him outside.

            "Did you forget your GF's?"

            _Well, almost_

            "No".

            "You do remember how to junction don't you?"

            Who did she think he was? He HAD passed all the other prerequisites.

            He nodded.

            "Well then, let's go."

            They walked along the drive and off the Garden premises. The road headed down into the town of Balamb, but they went off East, into the woods, and towards the mountains where the Fire Cavern lay.

            The trek across the plains was not particularly a hard one. Balamb was quite a pacifistic continent, which is why the main Garden was situated there. Students could train easily without much outside interference. They knew some of the local townspeople resented them, but the Garden created a massive amount of revenue for the town, that no-one complained to much. Generally, the most dangerous creature loose on the island were the small, blue Bite Bugs, which were annoying but one blow would soon see them off.

            So Squall was quite surprised on emerging the other side of the woods to see something quite different. It was a monster, that was plain enough. It had a light blue exoskeleton, with fins and a kind of hood. It seemed to swim through the air. Most strikingly of all though, was the large red eye in the middle of it skeleton. Squall recognised it immediately. Glacial Eye. It was an Ice Elemental monster, and Ice was the opposing element to fire. In the Fire Cavern, he suspected, most of the monsters would be Fire Elemental. This could be used to his advantage. And why not look for more ways to score points?

            "Instructor?"

            "Hmm, yes?" She seemed to be focused on something else.

            "Distract it."

            "Planning something? Hmm alright."

            He drew his gunblade.

            "Oh, you do know how to use the gun aspect of the weapon don't you?"

            _For crying out_…! Did she think he'd not trained at all in the last for years? He just nodded.

            Quistis drew her own weapon. It was much like a chain whip, except it had a hard spike on the end, to cause extra damage. She sidled up to the creature and cracked the whip onto one of its fins. The monster roared up in pain. Squall meanwhile was concentrating. The Glacial Eye was still. He'd found it's mind, and almost what he was looking for. 

            Ah! There it was! Ice magic! Channelling his Junction Pathways he linked them to those of the monster and quickly he drew the magic from its mind. This was sure to be useful.

            Having no more use for it, he ran over to the creature, and brought the gunblade down into its red eye, pulling the trigger as he did so. The blast threw the creature to the ground. It's fins tried to pull it up again and then collapsed. It was dead.

            "Ice magic, I see" Quistis' voice purred with approval. "Very good thinking. You really are exceptional."

            Squall didn't much care for that, but was glad to see he'd made a good impression, one that he hoped would look good on his exam sheet.

            He made no response, but carried on walking towards the mountains.

            "Are you here for the test?"

            They were greeted by two men in red and white robes, and strange shallow pointed hats which seemed to cover their faces. The seemingly-emotionless, strict enforcers of all the rules in Garden, and the bane of every student living there. The Garden Faculty. He nodded.

            "Candidate number 41269. Squall Leonheart"

            "I'm his support. Instructor no. 14, Quistis Trepe".

            "Very well, proceed. You have 20 minutes, after which, you fail" the man ushered them inside.

            The first thing Squall noticed was the intense heat, and the red light that bathed the entire inner of the cave. He looked around. There was a distinct route, raised above a sea of boiling magma. He could hear screeches of Bats and Buels. Well, they weren't the hardest of enemies, but then that wasn't the purpose of the mission. Quistis started to brief him.

            "OK, the object of this exercise is to obtain for yourself a GF. My purpose is to examine you and give support where needed. Proceed."

            They continued walking.

            "You know, the boys sometimes choke on this test when I come with them."

            _Meaning_?

            "I guess my charm makes them a little nervous."

            He stopped. Was she serious?

            "Just kidding! Trying to make you feel relaxed, that's all!"

            _Whatever!_ He stopped listening and carried on walking. What had gotten into her today? She wasn't normally like this, but today, now that they were alone, she'd undergone a whole personality change. He stopped again when he saw something. There was a pinkish glow near the end of the rock, where it met the lava. A Draw Point, just like the one the computers in Garden could generate. These ones were natural though, an area where the magic was in abundance and had concentrated into a single spot. He went over and extracted the Fire magic from the point, in a similar manner to how he'd obtained his GF's. 

            "Squall, look out!" Quistis called suddenly.

            He looked up and saw a strange three-winged creature flapping in front of him looking about to strike. A Buel. He smiled, he'd just got some fire magic and these pathetic beasts were weak to everything.

            Opening up his Junction Pathways again, he tapped the area where he'd stored the spell, but this time unlocked the paths to unleash, rather than to draw. Pointing his fingers towards the creature, he released the fireball towards the Buel and watched as it struck it, directly in the head. Confident that it was no longer a threat, he turned away. The aim of this test was not to mess around with these things.

Presently enough, he saw the end of the route. The path turned into a large circle, with a huge pit in the middle of it.

            "OK Squall, this is it! Are you ready to face Ifrit?"

            He nodded again but turned away from his instructor and towards the pit, readying himself. At that moment he heard a roar and an enormous monster rose from the pit. It had a large muscular body, with long claws at the end of its fingers and toes. It's head was almost like that of a lion, but with two huge horns like that of a devil. Whenever he moved a muscle, it seemed like the movement was followed by a trail of fire and it's eyes blazed with a fierce intensity. This was Ifrit, the fire demon and one of the most famous GFs. Squall drew his gunblade once again, though he knew this fight would take more than that.

            "Another human seeking my power?" roared Ifrit. Squall cast his first Ice spell. A rock of pure cold broke above the monster's head. For a minute, the fire around him seemed to die down and the aura around him seemed a little chill. Angrily roaring in pain, the beast smashed away the ice and conjured up more flames to re-heat itself. It roared in pain, again as it felt Quistis' chain crack against it's arm, attacking the weaker cold burns.

            "Impudent humans!" it growled and delivered a huge punch to her that sent her reeling backwards. Believing her to be dead, the monster turned it's attention to Squall. But Squall had seen something the monster hadn't. An aura was developing around Quistis as she prepared to summon another GF. She was buying him time. Ifrit breathed a huge fireball at Squall, who quickly dived out the way, almost falling into the magma pit himself. He launched another Ice attack at Ifrit. Noticeably angered by this second painful assault, the beast's eyes narrowed at him, but the fire in them seemed to increase. The monster reared up to attack him, but then noticed, all too late the plans of his opponents. A peak of Ice rose up in the middle of the path, then all of a sudden it smashed open revealing a woman with skin as light blue as the frost. Shiva, the Ice Goddess.  

If the aura had chilled a little at Squall's ice spells, now it positively froze. The fire died down and even the magma appeared to start solidifying. Even Ifrit had started to back off in fear.

"They have Shiva?" it gaped.

In vain, it summoned a wave of fire up from the pit it had rose from, but it was too late. She launched a wave of frost at him in counter. The magma behind him started to crystallise and the two attacks seemed at deadlock with each other. But the relationship between GFs and humans was symbiotic and just as humans rely on the GFs power, Shiva drew extra power from the Junction in Quistis' mind. Turning into ice herself, Shiva launched herself at Ifrit, exploding into Ice at the impact, causing him to howl in sheer agony.

Squall chose this moment to finish up with a third Ice spell, following up by slashing him across the face, which was weak with cold burns now,  with his gunblade, pulling the trigger as he did so. The monster was staggering about now, clearly dazed. Squall delivered his final blow straight across it's chest. All too late, Ifrit realised whilst Squall had been attacking, Quistis was preparing another summon of Shiva. He knew this would finish him, or leave him vulnerable enough to BE finished.

            "STOP" he protested and hung his head in shame and humiliation. "For me to lose to a human…

            "Very well, I will join you."

            With that, the beast vanished. Squall felt the junction pathways in his head open up to receive the power of Ifrit taking lodge there. He also junctioned his fire magic along those pathways to increase his strength. Instantly he felt the effects.

            "OK, to review" Quistis wasted no time.

            "Good, you got yourself a GF. Now, you obviously know how to junction them, otherwise you would not have made it this far. Well done, you've passed the Fire Cavern. Now let's head back to Garden and prepare for the exam."

            As she turned to leave, Squall felt something else. They hadn't just beaten Ifrit, they'd given him quite a pounding. He could feel the monster's respect and the appreciation of the Fire magic junction. Clearly he'd already developed an affinity with the beast. He smiled. Earlier on he'd been worrying about whether he'd even be able to sit the exam. Now he'd passed the test in the eyes of himself, Quistis and even Ifrit himself, he felt ready to take on anything.


	3. The SeeD Exam

3. The SeeD exam

            Back at the Garden, Squall changed into his uniform. He didn't particularly care for the regulation blue jackets and trousers and white shirt. But he hoped after today, he'd be trading it for the much more prestigious SeeD uniform, in any case, rules were rules, and he wasn't going to jeopardise his chances for something as trivial as his appearance. Besides, didn't everyone hate uniforms that didn't command respect? Picking up his gunblade, extra ammo and student ID, he checked to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything else, and had headed to the foyer for the exam assignment. There were several others all mingling around. Some were just chatting. Others were practising their techniques against invisible opponents. Most were trying to conceal their nervousness. Squad A were announced. Then came Squad B.

            "Squall, come over here" called Quistis. "How are you feeling?"

            "Ok, I guess."

            "Let's see, you'll be with Zell. Zell Dincht. Quite a lively fellow."

            Squall knew Zell. He looked across at one of the boys practising his punches and hopping about. As far as Squall was concerned he was a fidget who couldn't stay in one place and appeared to have no inner monologue or volume control. He shook his head. Normally he'd just accept what he'd been given, but this time?

            "Lively? He's just loud. Can't I switch members?"

            "That's not possible I'm afraid. Over here Zell!" called Quistis.

            Squall watched as Zell executed a fly kick in midair, did three backwards handstand flips before ending in a full backflip and turning to face them. There could be worse team members, Squall realised. For all their personality clashes, Zell was a talented martial arts fighter. It was clear that Zell was more than happy with his team member.

            "Whoa! I'm with you?" breathed Zell, impressed. Squall didn't answer. Zell held out his hand. Squall just looked at him. "You don't get on with Seifer do you?" continued Zell, unperturbed. "Heard he whooped ya pretty bad this morning." This was not an insult, just a sympathetic remark, the kind that would infuriate Seifer if he heard himself proved right. Squall didn't care about that however, but he didn't want to appear bad in front of his team mate.

            "We weren't fighting. We were training," he corrected. Zell nodded.

            "Well I'll bet he doesn't think so"

            Squall looked away. It was probably true. Had he come out on top however, and you could bet Seifer would be humbly muttering about how it hadn't been a real fight. Zell carried on.

            "Look, Seifer's just a pain in the ass. Nobody likes him. Why don't you just ignore him?"

            Did he ever shut up? And who did he think he was. One training match gone too far, and now this?

            "Look!" he said. "That's…"

            "…None of your business?" said Quistis, in perfect unison with him. Squall looked over to see his instructor chuckle, and looked away again.

            "I hate to interrupt you" she carried on. "But that Seifer you're talking about, he's your Squad Leader."

            "SAY WHAT????????" yelled Zell, horrified.

            _Perfect!_ Well, didn't that just crown it? There were certainly worse people to be teamed up with, and they went by the name of Seifer Almasy.

            "It can't be changed" apologised Quistis seeing the looks on their faces. "Over here Seifer."

            Squall watched as walked up to join them. Still in his grey overcoat and blue shirt.

            _He hasn't even bothered to change into his uniform! _Squall noted with contempt. Flanking him was a huge dark-skinned man with baggy trousers and a vest, and a slighter woman in blue, with grey hair and a patch over one eye.

            _Raijin and Fujin tagging along as normal. Guess that makes up the disciplinary committee._

            "Well, you're the Squad Leader of Squad B." Quistis was telling him. "Good luck to you."

            "Instructor" drawled Seifer, in condescending tones. "I hate it when people wish me luck. Save those words for a poor student, who needs them, eh?" he added, with more than a touch of conceit and arrogance about his voice. In accordance, Raijin laughed whole-heartedly and Fujin nodded in agreement.

            Quistis was not impressed.

            "OK" she agreed. "Good luck, Seifer!"

            Quistis had not been impressed, Seifer looked apoplectic.

            "Add Instructor Trepe to the list!" he yelled at Raijin and Fujin, swinging his gunblade in fury.

            _The list?_ Wondered Squall. _What is it?_

            "You're the instructor for Squad B" Quistis was telling them. "Teamwork is of the utmost importance. I want you all to get through this exam."

            "Listen up!" Seifer turned to his teammates. "Teamwork means staying out of my way! It's a Squad B rule, don't you forget it!" Quistis silently despaired.

            Squall was furious. Seifer could do what he wanted to himself, but as Squad Leader, he was threatening HIS chances of passing. He didn't say anything. Zell shook in fury.

            "_Everybody here_?"

            Before anything could happen, Headmaster Cid had walked into the room. He was wearing his standard red waistcoat and not bothered to put the suit jacket on. He looked at them all with an elderly, but kind face.

            "It's been a while everyone, how's everybody doing?"

            He started to brief them. "This exam will involve 12 members, from Squads A to D. You will be proceeding to a real battlefield. Obviously, the battles are for real.

            "Life and death, victory and defeat, honour and disgrace. Each of these go hand in hand. There's only one way or the other. How 'bout it? Are you all still up for it?"

            He paused, but no-one backed out. As if they would. This was the day they had been preparing for and there was no way they would chicken out now. Cid continued:

            "You will be accompanied by 9 SeeD members. Should you fail, these members will get the job done. They always do."

            He broke off and looked at them all.

            "Well, that's one less worry on your minds.

            "The pride of Balamb Garden! The elite mercenary force, SeeD! Learn from them, obey their commands and accomplish the mission. Prove yourselves worthy of becoming a member of SeeD. Best of luck."

            With that, Seifer and his posse turned and left for the garage to get a car. Zell and Squall quickly followed.

            They were only glad Seifer wasn't driving. The idea of him boy racing down the roads and sending people scattering was not one they relished. Both of them sat next to each other, while Seifer sat opposite Squall, watching them coolly, without speaking.

            "Hey Squall, can I have a look at your gunblade?" Zell tried to speak to Squall instead. Squall didn't answer.

            "Come on, man!"

            ….

            "Just a peek?"

            ….

            "Come on, please?"

            ….

            "Say something will ya? What's on your mind." Zell was nervous and trying to take his mind of it. He didn't want to talk to Seifer, but he was pleased at being with Squall and he hoped he could be friends with him.

            "…Nothing" Squall and Quistis spoke in perfect unison. Squall looked up at Quistis chuckling again. This habit of cutting in with his words was starting to annoy him.

            "C'mon, it's our big exam, you must be thinking something?" Zell didn't give up.

            When Squall didn't answer, he got up and started practising his punches to the air.

            "Scared are you?" jeered Seifer "Chicken"

            Zell was clearly riled. "WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?"

            "Hah hah, what a kid?" Seifer was clearly enjoying himself.

            Quistis was in no such mood. "Seifer! Stop it!" she scolded. Zell sat down. The car carried on in silence.

            Squall had kept silent through all this. He was beginning to think their chances of passing were decreasing step-by-step. He wasn't arrogant and up-himself like Seifer was. He knew that on their fighting skills, he had quite possibly the best team. But Seifer and Zell…

            Zell was well intentioned and clearly pleased to be with him, but he rose to the bait too easily. Seifer had noticed this and was quite clearly getting a kick out of provoking him; he knew he couldn't bait Squall had he been given a whole week and his exam dependant on it.

It wasn't Zell's fault he got heated too quickly, or even that he was paired up with the one person who would refuse to work as a team. In fact, had it not been for Seifer on the team, there would have been no problem.

            But Seifer WAS a problem. In a different respect to Zell, he too was liable to lose it, except he noticed Zell could actually keep from snapping. Seifer wouldn't. There was more than a chance of things coming to blows between their own team than with monsters at this rate. Well, the scar still on his forehead reminded him of waking up in the infirmary. Which reminded him of something else. For the first time, he looked up.

            "Instructor…"

            She looked over.

            "Who was that girl in the infirmary this morning?"

            Quistis looked puzzled, and a bit upset. "Was someone there? I didn't notice."

            "Oh" Squall looked down again.

            Seifer smiled. "This is great! I have Chicken-wuss and a guy who just reached puberty in my squad!"

            Squall didn't dare look over at how Zell was reacting.

            "So that's the vessel?"

            They'd reached Balamb harbour and were watching three bulbous, yet somehow aerodynamic looking ships speed away. A fourth was moored to the harbour. This was obviously theirs.

            "Hey! Get in! You're the last to leave!" yelled one of the Garden staff as all three cadets marched silently past him and into their ship. Once inside, they took up their places on benches each side of a table. Squall and Zell on one side again, and Seifer by himself on the other. Quistis watched at the doorway. Another woman with shoulder length brown hair, wearing the same SeeD uniform as Quistis walked in.

            "Hi Xu!" Quistis greeted her.

            She gestured towards her students. "These are the Squad B students taking the exam. This is Zell" 

He waved a hello "Nice to meet you!"

            "And Squall" In spite of himself, Squall stood up and shook her hand. This was Cid's second-in-command after all. There was no harm in making a good impression here. "Pleased to meet you." A faint look of surprise registered on Quistis' face.

            A dry smile appeared on Xu's face as she spied the third member of the group.

            "Seifer. How many times is it now then?"

            If he was put-off or perturbed in any way, he didn't show it. "Oh I just love these exams" he responded just as dryly.

            "Well let's begin the briefing." Xu got down to business. She walked past the candidates to the other end of the ship and turned on a screen.

            "Our client for this mission is the Dollet Dukedom Parliament. They've been under attack from the Galbadian Army since 72 hours ago. A request for SeeD was made 18 hours ago."

            An image flashed up on the screen; a map of Dollet City and it's area. Dollet was in an unusual situation, it was surrounded by mountains, except for a narrow road than ran in between them to a small, flat area jutting out into the sea, where the harbour town had been built.

            "This is the current situation" Xu continued. "The Dollet forces have retreated from the city and have undergone manoeuvres into the mountains, where they have more of a strategic advantage. We make a landing at Lapin Beach. Your mission is to eliminate any of the Galbadian Forces still in the city, and secure the area. The Galbadians will probably split their troops and come back down into the city. You are to eliminate any that do so. With their numbers decreasing, the Dollet Army will have time to reorganise and get rid of the troops in the mountains. "

            "Sounds important." Zell was impressed. It was to be his first time inside a real battlefield and was looking forward in helping out an actual mission. It made him kind of proud.

            "Sounds boring" Seifer was not so enthralled as Zell. "So what you're saying is, we do all the dirty work?"

            Xu flinched, unsure what to say. Seifer smiled at her uneasiness. He liked this kind of power over people, even if no-one respected him for it. Squall new that attitude was one of the things assessed on the exam. He now had a good idea of why Seifer had failed so many times.

            Xu remembered something "Oh, it hardly needs saying, but the order to withdraw takes priority. Don't forget!" she looked around. "Well, that concludes the briefing."

            The group sat in silence for a while.

"Hey, Squall. Go see what's happening outside." Seifer suddenly chimed in. 

Squall had not been impressed with Seifer's behaviour so far and was on the verge of ignoring him. But then he realised, Seifer WAS his team leader, and he WAS meant to be following his instructions. It'd look bad to ignore one as simplistic as that.

"Ok" he said, getting up.

"Good" Seifer sat back with relish, putting his legs up on the table. "Because it's MY order."

Zell watched as Squall left. Seifer's attention instantly turned to him.

"How you feeling Chicken-wuss? Not too scared I hope?"

"It's my first real battle, sure, I'm a bit nervous." Zell went on the defensive.

"Better not piss in your pants." Seifer tried to bait him.

Zell sat up. He'd had enough of him already. Did he even have any intention of working as a team? Was he TRYING to get Squall and him failed?

"LOOK!" He yelled. "Just what is with your frigging attitude? Why do you think you're so superior to everyone?"

"What a kid" smiled Sefier in glee. How he loved Zell. The kid was as easy to taunt as a five-year old. "Just be used to it. It's the kind of air you get in the presence of superiors. Just get used to it, there's winners and losers in this world. Welcome to reality"

"Yeah! And you're one of the biggest losers in it! You fail this exam god-knows how many times and you're still so far up yourself it's untrue. You're the one who needs to get a grip on reality. You think you're strong and powerful, but you're just a coward a bully. You think you're better than everyone, but everyone is leaving you in the dust. You STILL haven't passed your SeeD exam and you think every SeeD should be answerable to you. You're just a sad attention seeking kid!"

Zell hadn't been trying to make Seifer angry, but he had succeeded admirably.

"Look you little Chicken…!" he began, his face turning scarlet.

"ENOUGH!" roared Quistis. "Look at the pair of you! You're BOTH acting like children. You're supposed to be working as a team."

"I know that! Tell it to HIM! He thinks he's a one-man army and we're just his lackeys!"

"ENOUGH!!" The word sounded pronounced far more slowly and threatening than before. "May I remind you your attitude is assessed on this exam, as part of your ability to work together in combat. What do you think you're scoring right now? Both of you?"

"My dear instructor…" Seifer feigned hurt. "I only aim to introduce my colleagues to the way things really are. This is a real battlefield, we're not sheltered in the Garden now. Isn't that right Chicken-wuss?"

Zell realised, from now on, in Seifer's eyes, that would be forever his name. But Quistis's words had sunk in and he wasn't about to fail on account of Seifer.

"I'm going to see what Squall's doing." Let Seifer be an idiot. Him and Squall could do this. Hell, Squall could do this on his own! He still couldn't believe his luck being paired up with a fighter like that. He got up and head out. Squall didn't talk much, but he'd much rather the company of someone who didn't talk much than someone who would carry on like Seifer all day.

Squall was standing on the bridge looking at the horizon. Dollet was now clearly visible, they'd arrive in ten minutes or so. He looked at the schematics he'd been given. He could see the tower on top of the hill and the harbour where they'd insert. These seemed to be the main two features. He could already make out flashes of gunfire and explosions in the hills. They were heading into the fray and no mistake. He half smiled to himself. Now he could get the chance to really prove himself.

"S'up dude!" Zell's voice piped in behind him. He glanced at him in acknowledgement, not entirely happy at being disturbed, and held up his schematics, matching the diagram to the skyline.

"I, uh, just thought I'd come out, see what you were doing."

Zell's face was still quite red. Seifer had obviously been goading him further. In silence, Squall handed him the diagram and mission details.

"Oh, yeah, right!" Zell enthused. "So this is a map of Dollet huh. Take it we're going in through here…" he ran his fingers along the road map. "You reckon we'll be going through the streets out in the open, or what?"

"That's for Seifer to decide" Squall stared dead ahead at the scene.

"Oh, yeah, Seifer" Zell was clearly in a bad mood at the mention of THAT name. "Can't believe he's in charge of us can you? He just doesn't care about working with us, he could jeopardise the entire m. Why'd we have to get stuck with him?"

Squall shrugged. He felt exactly the same way as Zell, but what good would it do to moan about it? The decision had been made and no amount of complaining could change it. Best just to ignore him and try and pass the exams themselves and certainly not get dragged into the whole juvenile arguments.

            "It's not our decision. Besides, weren't you the one saying to ignore him?"

            "Yeah, I know, it ain't always easy, but…"

            Squall had stopped listening. There were more important matters at stake.

            "Zell, we'd better get inside and get ready. We'll be landing in 5 or 10 minutes and from the look of that scene there…" he gestured towards the explosions in the town "we should expect an attack as soon as we touch down."

            The crafts lurched onto the beach with a bit of a crash, the doors opened and out spilled the various SeeD candidates and their instructors.

            "Squad B!" called Quistis. "Your job is to secure Central Square. Move out!"

            They ran up the beach and up a flight of stairs onto the road.

            "This way to Central Square" yelled Seifer gesturing towards the left, where the road ran under a bridge. As if to match Squall's predictions, two blue-suited Galbadian soldiers ran out to greet them, swords raised ready for an attack. They stopped when they looked at their attackers.

            "They're Dollet reinforcements?" the first soldier laughed. "They're just kids!"

            "Just kids eh?" snarled an already psyched-up Seifer as he ran up and decapitated the offending man with one stroke of his gunblade.

            All his cockiness gone, the second man turned towards Seifer ready to strike, but before he could do a thing, he felt the blow of Squall's gunblade, trigger and all surging down his back. Within 20 seconds, both soldiers lay down dead. Seifer was clearly on a high.

            "Bring 'em on!" he shouted, ecstasy all over his face, his eyes on fire, as he ran under the bridge.

            Squall and Zell ran after him, keeping their cool much more, but still feeling an adrenaline rush. It wasn't long before they came to another bridge above their heads, from which another two more soldiers jumped down. They showed none of the complacency of their predecessors.

            "Look out" the first called to his comrade, "it's SeeD!"

            One of them headed to Zell, believing him to be unarmed and easy to take out. But he didn't know Zell's skills. He brought his sword down in an arc. Zell quickly moved around the blow and pincered the man's arms in between his own. The soldier felt a surge of pain as Zell brought his lower arm up, moving his own elbow up, almost breaking the joint. He tried to wriggle out of it, but Zell swung the man round, sticking his ankle out, and causing the man to trip over it and fall flat on his face. The man's sword was also in his possession, but Zell had no need for such things. He tossed it aside and instead, brought his heel down onto the man's spine, breaking it neatly in two. He then turned his attention to the second man coming up at him. This time he jumped up and executed a perfect 360o Crescent Kick to the man's temple, sending him reeling. Dazed and groggy, he staggered up, only to find Seifer's gunblade at his throat. One slash later and the man had breathed his last breath. Seifer gave the first man similar treatment.

            "Just being on the safe side!" he grinned looking at his team-mate's disapproving looks.

            "Just being sadistic" muttered Zell.

            They proceeded a bit more cautiously; having breached the first two waves with no real hassle, the Galbadians would not be underestimating them. But they reached the Central Square with no more attacks.

            "Alright men!" Seifer was surprisingly sounding like a pro. "We've reached our destination. Scout the surrounding area for any more and eliminate them." There were only four routes away from the square. One they had just taken, one led up into the mountains, another towards the exit from the town and the fourth was blocked up with debris. Yet as Squall and Zell inspected it, two more soldiers leapt out from behind the burning chassis of a wrecked car to attack. But leaping down at the SeeD cadets brought them to their doom instantly. The first was impaled on Squall's gunblade, and a pull of the trigger instantly burnt away all the man's vital organs and sent him flying off towards the debris again, his body ripped in two.

            Zell meanwhile grabbed his assailant in midair. The man hadn't even bothered to draw his sword, putting Zell in the immediate advantage. He stuck his foot into the man's stomach; falling onto his back, he threw the man flying headfirst towards the wall. Zell inspected him; his skull was cracked and he was completely unconscious. Satisfied all the forces in the immediate vicinity were vanquished, they headed back to where Seifer was waiting.

            "All taken care of?" he inquired. Squall nodded. "Alright then men, stand down, we're on standby till the enemy comes."

            They relaxed, but still kept on guard. Squall reloaded his gunblade with ammo. Zell kept on his feet, as did Seifer who was leaning on his gunblade. All of a sudden, things seemed to have gone eerily quiet. There were no sounds of battle anywhere. When Squall had looked at the town from the ship, it had seemed that a full battle was going on. Now, after only three fights, the fighting seemed to be over. The only other company was a small brown dog, which was sniffing about.

            "Things are going pretty well" chimed in Zell. "3 fights in, and we've already achieved our goal."

            "Don't get too complacent yet" warned Squall. "I doubt they'll be planning a retreat yet."

            "Man, this sucks being on standby" complained Seifer. "How long are they going to keep us waiting?"

            He climbed on top of a fountain in the middle of the square. "HEY! All you Galbadian cowards out there! Come out here and show your faces!"

            Zell groaned and Squall looked away at the floor, in his usual manner. Things had been going well until now. But now here was Seifer drawing needless attention to themselves, all they had to do was defend the Square. As if to answer Seifer, a fresh round of gunfire broke out in the background.

            "This is it!" Seifer jumped down onto the floor and readied himself, his eyes gleaming. "Get ready everyone"

            But no enemy came.

            Half an hour later and there had still been no more conflict. Zell by now had taken a seat on the fountain "This ain't right man" he was saying. "Something's up". Squall was still standing and alert. There was no disguising Seifer's frustration however as he was pacing up and down, his hands behind his back a look of pure scorn on his face. Finally he burst out and started swinging his gunblade round in anger.

            "That's IT!" he yelled in fury. "I can't take it anymore. What is this? Some kind of dog training?" As if to respond, the dog started barking. All of a sudden they heard footsteps approaching. Squall and Zell took up a position behind the fountain so they could see whether the people approaching were friend or foe. After a moment's hesitation Seifer joined them.

            Sure enough six Galbadian soldiers came along the route from town and head up into the mountains. The crew looked at the way they'd head off. It was a track into the mountains and at the peak of this one was a large tower.

            "What's that thing?" Zell wondered out loud.

            Seifer pointed at it with his gunblade. "Our next destination!" he exclaimed smiling.

            "What?" Zell was stunned. "But that's against orders! We were told to stay here!"

            Seifer shrugged this irrelevant matter off. "You not bored yet? That's where we're heading" he stood firm.

            "This is ridiculous! Squall, tell him!"

            This was the kind of thing Squall had been dreading. Seifer just couldn't obey orders and now he was placing them all in a dilemma. Seifer was going on to the tower whatever. He would fail for it, Squall was certain of that much. But what about them? They could either split up the group or disobey orders. Either way, it would look unfavourably on them and there was a chance both would be failing offences. But then, Seifer was their Squad Leader and they WERE meant to be following his orders. If anything happened, Seifer could take the flak for it. But he wanted to pass, and he figured just obeying his direct orders would be the best way of doing so. That and winning the fights of course.

            "I stand by the captain's decision" he said.

            "Captain's decision?" Seifer was surprised. Maybe there was hope for the lad after all. He went over to Squall and shook him by the shoulder. "You want to wreak some havoc too don't you?" he said, admiringly, pleased and goadingly all in one.

            Squall just shook him off.

            "It's a good opportunity to test my training." He admitted. "After this morning I feel I can take on anyone. Even if they do fight dirty like you."

            Seifer was impressed. He was seeing a new side to Squall. He too, was pleased with having Squall on his team. Here they were, the two best fighters in the Garden. They'd tear up shit, wipe out the Galbadians and be hailed throughout Garden, and that Chicken-wuss... well he could suit himself. He'd always respected Squall's abilities and was quite flattered with Squall's comment.

            "You'll thank me when the time comes." He remarked.

            "What the hell…?" Zell cut in. "I thought you guys didn't get along. You're like all buddy-buddy now."

            He shook his head and looked at both of them. "Listen, this is no ordinary battle. It's an exam, an important one! I'm telling ya, we have to stick to orders!"

            Squall knew Zell was right. He was still clinging to faint hope Seifer would see sense and agree. But this was Seifer. All hope evaporated when Seifer replied.

            "Then you stay here. I don't need any boy scouts." He was half hoping Zell WOULD chicken out. Lose the weaker ones and he and Squall could get on with things. He felt Zell would only slow them down.

            Squall knew there was nothing for it. They'd have to follow Seifer, or they'd fail anyway for not working as a team.

            Zell had risen to the bait again.

            "What was that?"

            "Don't take him seriously Zell. Look, he's the Squad Leader, we have to obey his commands, otherwise the team is split up and we fail anyway for not working together. Seifer, what do we do. If you decide to go, you will fail, you know this. You can do what you like, but you're not jeopardising my chances of passing. If you go, I'll go, because I'm not splitting up the team. What's it to be?"

            Seifer was in no mood for reasonable arguments. He wanted action. The examiners would see he was in the right, when they'd beaten off the Galbadians and saved Dollet.

            "The enemy is headed for the facility. We, Squad B are to secure the summit. Move out."

            "Alright" Squall agreed. "Zell?"

            "Tch… fine" Zell knew it would count against him if he went off on his own.

            Seifer turned and ran after the soldiers towards the mountains. Squall and Zell knew he was going to fail, but just hoped they'd made the right decision to save themselves the chances of becoming SeeDs.


	4. True Intentions

4. True Intentions

            The group ran along the roads. They were heading along a bridge over the estuary of the river.

            "So what's the plan then, since we're taking on the entire G-Army then?" said Zell. If he was going to follow Seifer into this nonsense, he at least wanted to know what he was planning on doing.

            "Take 'em out!" was Seifer's simple reply.

            Squall offered his piece "From what we've seen, the Galbadians seemed to have organised themselves into pairs. That means we should outnumber them each time, that is, if their tactics are the same."

            Zell thought about it. It made sense. Not as much as heading back and staying at Central Square, but…

They reached the other side and found the path up to the summit. The most noticeable thing they found though were injured Dollet soldiers lying around. Alive though.

            "They're in for a fight, then so are we!" beamed Seifer.

            "I don't think so," mused Squall. "They've left these men alive. Whatever they're up to, they've just got these men out the way, as if they've got more pressing business to attend to."

            "You saying this isn't a straight invasion?" Seifer retorted.

            "Well think about it, they wouldn't invade unless they were after something, would they." Squall thought logic.

            "I dunno" Zell thought about it. "This IS Galbadia. Think about Timber and Winhill. They've often sought to just invade and establish an empire."

            This was true enough. "But why haven't they just killed off the troops then? They're after something, and they want to get it done quickly." Squall was still piecing things together.

            "They're after the tower at the top." Reasoned Seifer. "See, we should have come up here. Their purpose is getting the facility. If we stop them, we've thwarted their plans. We just had to secure an area, but we'll far exceed their expectations. Come on."

            "What do you reckon?" Zell turned to Squall.

            "I think he's right about the tower. If we're going to go then, let's move on." Squall answered him.

            They carried on up the steps, when a sound in the bushes to the left of them got their attention. They turned round to see a Dollet soldier crawled out of the bush.

            "Ah! W-W-Who are you?" he stammered.

            "Don't worry, we're SeeD candidates from Garden. We've been dispatched as Dollet reinforcements." Squall informed him.

            "What's going on up there then?" Seifer got down to business.

            "The Galbadians have entered the Communications Tower. That place has always been a nesting ground for monsters. If you guys are going up, be careful… ARRRGHHH!"

            The scream made them turn round. A huge snake about 15 feet long with enormous fangs had crawled down the mountain. Anacondaur. Squall knew the creature was quite venomous. And dangerous.

            "Let me kill it! Give me the glory!" Seifer leapt in, gunblade at the ready and hurled a Fire spell at the monster. It seemed to hiss at the pain and focused on its assailant. Seifer was spinning his gunblade round quickly. As the snake reared down on him, Seifer drew his blade up across the monsters stomach. The momentum gained from its spin, made the impact harsh, especially with the trigger pulled. Squall was impressed. It was a good technique. But he'd noticed something Seifer hadn't. Whilst Seifer had been focusing on the monster's underbelly, the snake was bringing its tail round. Before he could stop it, Seifer was wrapped up in the monsters coils. He sunk his gunblade into it and pulled the trigger. The monster was bleeding terribly, but still had enough strength to contract it's body round Seifer. It opened its mouth and bared its fangs. Zell wasted no time. He leapt in and smashed the side of its head, causing the monster to focus on Zell, the new source of danger. Squall came in for his attack and sliced the monster's fang off. As it opened its mouth to howl, Squall stuck his gunblade through the roof of it's mouth and into it's brain. One pull of the trigger later, it was finished and Seifer was freed.

            "What did you do that for? I told you to let ME kill it!" Seifer was furious.

            "You frigging idiot! It was going to kill you! I had to do something. I'm not going to let my team-mate die, even if it is you!" Zell couldn't believe it. They'd saved his life and this was the gratitude they got?

            "Monsters huh?" Squall didn't have time for this petty argument.

            "Ah well" Seifer reverted and got the gleam back in his eye. "More fun for us." And with had he charged up the hill. Zell looked disbelievingly at Squall and raised an eyebrow.

            "Fun? Pul-ease!"

            They caught up with him at the top of the hill and found him crouched down behind some rocks looking at the entrance to the tower. He beckoned for them to sit down and join him. They did so. There were two Galbadian officers on watch outside the tower. The doors opened and a third soldier emerged.

            "The generator is up and running" he informed them.

            "No problem with the boosters." The second one volunteered his piece.

            "…the hell are they doing?" Seifer was watching them with grim-faced determination.

            "Cable disconnection confirmed. Begin the next step" the third man finished, and with that, all three head into the tower.

            "Repairs?" offered Squall. They got to their feet.

            "Who cares?" Seifer obviously couldn't.

            He walked to the edge of the cliff and looked at the tower.

            "This must be your first real battle? You scared?"

            Squall walked over to the edge and stood by him. He was right. It would be their first real battle. They'd only had a few skirmishes in town. And of course Ifrit in the Fire Cavern earlier. But now… It was obvious they'd stumbled across the real reason Galbadia were in Dollet. And if Seifer really did mean to stop them, they'd have to go into the tower. And then… well, if the Galbadians wanted it that badly, they wouldn't just leave a few paltry troops. Who knew what kind of security they'd encounter in there?

            "I don't know" he confessed. "I try not to think about it." This was true enough as well. He always tried to avoid thinking too much. It got him worrying, or thinking about things he'd rather not remember.

            Seifer looked up and breathed in the air. "I love battles. I fear nothing." He announced with reverence. "The way I look at it, each time you make it out of a battle alive, you're one step closer to fulfilling your dream!"

            Squall and Zell were surprised. Seifer was deeper than they thought.

            Squall turned to face him. "What? Your dream!?"

            Seifer turned. It was his turn to be surprised. "You have one too don't you?"

            Squall turned away "Sorry, I'm gonna pass on that subject."

            "C'mon" Seifer pressed. "There's nothing? No dreams? Nothing you aspire to? Nothing you hope of getting? What are your hopes for today?"

            "I just wanna pass this exam."

            "And then what? What do you want to be as a SeeD? You want to protect people? Fight for honour? Justice?" Seifer looked his rival in the eye. Squall turned away, but Seifer did not give up.

            "Pride? Respect? You want to be remembered as the greatest warrior who ever lived? In generations people will talk about you? That your fighting skills were legendary and unmatched? What is it you're fighting for in your life?"

            "…Nothing." Squall hoped the conversation would end here. He didn't want to think about his future or his past. That was just full of pain, and at this rate he'd be bound to bring up painful memories. But surely Seifer knew these. They'd known each other since childhood. He was already thinking too much.

            "You paused there. There IS something. C'mon tell me." Seifer was genuinely interested now. He'd known Squall since childhood, but ever since they'd arrived at Garden, Squall had changed. He wasn't the same person. He'd become cold, distant, wouldn't talk to anyone. You'd have thought the pair would be friends, but Squall didn't seem to bond with anyone anymore. Now he had the chance of perhaps finding out what made Squall tick, he wasn't going to pass it off.

            Zell walked over. "Yo! Let me in on it too!"

            "Mind your own business." Seifer told him. He didn't want this Chicken ruining it. It was nothing to do with him, he thought, quite wrongly as it happened.

            "Friggin' hell…" Zell was exasperated. What was with this guy? He was just trying to be friendly, but Seifer just blocked everyone out. Worse than Squall. Squall wouldn't be your friend, but he wouldn't be an asshole to you like this. In frustration he started practising his punches.

            "What's the matter Zell? Swatting flies?" he gave up and walked off. This wasn't going to go anywhere, not now Zell had got involved.

            "Damn you" Zell muttered.

            "There you are!" another voice piped in. Squall and Zell turned round to see a young female cadet at the top of the mountain. She walked forwards, lost her balance and fell down. Zell winced. Squall instantly recognised her as the girl who knocked him over earlier. She got up, out of breath.

            "Are you…huff huff… Squad B?" She'd obviously been running for a while.

Squall nodded. "Hey you're the one who showed me round. Thanks, I think I know where I'm going now! I'm Selphie by the way. I'm a messenger from Squad A."

            "Squall"

            "Zell" they gave their names.

            "The Squad Leader's Seifer, right? Where is he?"

            They turned to see Seifer had run round the bottom of the cliff and was heading towards the Tower by himself. He turned and shouted up to them.

            "One of these days, I'm gonna tell ya 'bout my ROMANTIC dream!" and with that he headed inside.

            "There" said Squall simply.

            Selphie sighed. "This sure is tough…" she turned and called after him. "Captain! Wait up…" and to Squall and Zell's surprise, jumped down the cliff after him. She turned back to them "What are you waiting for? Come on!"

            Squall and Zell looked at each other. Squall raised his eyebrow.

            "Uh, no thanks, I'll take the long way round." Zell refused. They turned and head off the way Seifer had walked off. It only took them a minute to walk round, but Selphie was still there waiting for them. She seemed a little nervous at the thought of chasing Seifer into the tower by herself.

            "What took you so long? It'd have been much quicker if you'd just jumped."

            "Quicker? Pu-lease!" was Zell's response. "You don't normally go jumping off cliffs ok? Would you Squall?"

            "No." Squall was all in agreement here. "You wouldn't normally jump that." Even Seifer had taken the traditional route.

            "Well anyway, let's get going." Selphie was in too much of a hurry to debate this.

            They reached the doors in time to see them open and two soldiers running out, fleeing for their lives.

            "Cowards!" Seifer yelled after them and turned back inside.

            "HEEEY!" Selphie tried to get his attention. It didn't work; Seifer was gone. Selphie beckoned the other two and they ran in after him.

The inside of the tower was a mass of machinery. A lift came down to greet them.

            "Did he go up?" Squall wondered.

            "Heeey! Seifer! Squad B captain?" Selphie called.

            Squall looked at the controls. There were only two buttons. Up and Down. "Looks like this is the way up" he informed them. They all got on and Squall pressed the "Up" button.

            Biggs was not a happy man. He'd been assigned to repair the communications tower by the end of the day and he didn't like this kind of job. He was a soldier, not a technician, and the rookie assigned to him, Wedge, wasn't always helpful.

"Major Biggs!" Wedge tried to get his attention. Biggs just ignored him and carried on playing around with his tools, trying to screw the wires back into their sockets, reattach cables and generally sort out the damage.

            "Major Biggs!" Wedge tried again. "There has been a report of a monster-shaped shadow on top of the tower."

            Biggs wasn't listening. They were on a strict deadline to get the tower up and running today. The Dollet troops had hindered their progress enough, but had then called in SeeD, who, from what he had been told had already decimated all the troops in the city.

            "Major Biggs!"

            "Be quiet! I'm busy!" Biggs finally lost his patience. He carried on trying to re-attach the cables together.

            "Sir, I'll scout the area." Wedge felt Biggs was not happy with him around. Biggs didn't even notice. But he'd almost finished now. "Let's see... If this goes here." He didn't notice the elevator rise up behind him. "Ah it's done!"

            He was proud of himself. He'd managed to do an important repair job. He watched as the tower sprung into action again. A huge satellite dish rose up from the centre, unfolded itself and lined itself up to, well, wherever it was meant to be lined up to. He didn't know. All he was told to do was repair the tower.

            "What do you think you're doing?" A voice cut into his thoughts. He turned round to see three youths all in blue uniform behind him.

            "Huh? Likewise Mister! What do you think YOU'RE doing?"

He called out to his assistant to get rid of them. "Wedge! Take care of these twerps!"

            He turned round. Wedge was nowhere to be seen.

            "W-Wedge? I-ah" He was feeling a little uncomfortable now. He'd noticed them carrying weapons and realised that these three were probably members of SeeD. He wasn't sure what they wanted, but he figured it was a good time to be somewhere else.

            "Well, I'm, er, done here, so, um I'll just be heading off, and…" he slowly moved towards the elevator and pressed the elevator summon button on his remote unit.

            "Sorry to interrupt!" The elevator arrived, bringing Seifer with it; who knocked the remote clean out of his hands with one swipe of his sword.

            "Ahhh! Are you crazy!" Biggs was angry now. Who did this lot think they were?

            "Just shut UP!" sneered Seifer. "Squad B, attack this man!"

            Now Biggs was mad. He'd show these little kids who was boss. He went over to the man he thought was the ringleader and tried to punch him. Squall caught his fist and kicked him over, then promptly drew his gunblade. Wedge came running up.

            "Major Biggs, have you finished the repairs sir?" all of a sudden he noticed the 4 SeeD candidates "What is the enemy doing here?"

            "WEDGE!! Where were you?" Biggs was furious "No pay for you this month!"

            "Should have stayed at home!" remarked Wedge sarcastically.

            Selphie had drawn her weapon, a pair of nun-chakus and used them to knock Bigg's helmet off. Wedge too, went for Squall, but he knew how to use his sword, unlike many of his peers. Soon the two were engaged in a sword-battle and Biggs turned his attention to the other two, particularly the young girl with the insolence to knock his helmet off. But it soon became clear Selphie's skills were not with her weapon, but in magic. A bolt of lightning struck him; the fact he was earthed to the tower meant it did no real damage but left him shook up. Wedge noticed this and ran over to help him.

            All of a sudden, there came a great gust of wind that blew the two soldiers clean away, and the three cadets stared as a huge monster descended on them. It was a winged beast with great claws, and what looked like a large sting below it's waist, where it's legs should have been.

            "What the…!!?" exclaimed Zell. Selphie hurled an Ice-spell at it, but the monster seemed to shake it off. It took one swipe at them all and bowled them all over. It's giant head moved down to inspect them. Zell seized this opportunity to jump up and attack. He caught it by surprise by head-butting it straight between the eyes and delivered three successive blows; one on each side of the head, and an uppercut, again straight between the eyes. The monster took a swipe and was met by a flash of blue light. Zell turned round to see Selphie had cast Protect on him. He smiled and fly kicked the monster, which took to the air again.

            Squall meanwhile had been watching and remembered his Instructor's tactics earlier. He also thought he hadn't done the Fire Cavern for no reason. The monster was in the air planning to attack, when it realised it wasn't alone. Squall's summon had taken place and Ifrit, the Fire Demon was rising into the air, far above the beast, riding a huge flaming meteorite. He brought his fists up and smashed them down onto the rock, which hurled towards the flying demon, bringing it down onto the rocks beneath and crushing it to death.

            The group got their breath back. Zell noticed with fury, that all this while, Seifer had just been watching.

            "You could have helped you…!" Zell was not pleased.

            "Well, you didn't want me to fight did you?" jeered Seifer. "You wouldn't let me take that snake on, so if you don't want me to fight, I won't."

            "I was just trying to help you! It was going to crush you to death!" Zell was apoplectic with rage now.

            Selphie, meanwhile had not forgotten her purpose.         "Squad B captain?" she approached Seifer. "S'cuse me, I have new orders. All SeeD members and SeeD candidates are to withdraw at 1900 hours. Assemble back at Lapin Beach."

            "Withdraw!? There are still enemies around!" Seifer was gutted. He'd come up to prove his worth and now was having that opportunity taken from him.

            "I'm just the messenger!" said Selphie with authority.

            "An order to withdraw takes priority!" Squall reminded him. "I don't want to miss the vessel."

            A thought occurred to Seifer. "What time d'you say?"

            "Like I said. I have new orders. All SeeD members and SeeD candidates are to withdraw at 1900 hours. Assemble back at Lapin Beach." She repeated.

            "1900 hours? We only have 30 minutes then! Better run!" And with that, he jumped on the elevator and headed down.

            "Hey! Wait" Selphie called after him

            "Don't bother" Squall resigned. After all their efforts and disobeying orders, to try and keep the team together, they'd failed anyway. "Let's go."

            Major Biggs crawled over to where his remote had been dropped and picked it up with his last effort. He punched in a command.

            "Those little brats are the targets. Don't stop until they're dead." And with that, he collapsed.

            "Don't worry, we can get there in half an hour easily." Zell breezed as they ran out of the tower.

            "Yeah, but still…" Selphie was cut off as they heard a mechanical noise above them. Without warning, a huge robot crashed to the ground behind them. If it wasn't for the fact it only had 4 legs, it would have looked like a giant spider. It smashed into them, sending them all flying. Picking themselves up. Zell decided it was his turn.

            "It's a robot, it hates thunder. I'll use my GF now."

            "Are you sure?" Selphie was worried. But she hurled a thunder spell at it just in case. The robot seemed to briefly shake, but other than that was unaffected.

            Squall didn't think there was much point trying to slash it to death; he could see that its armour was very thick indeed.

            Fortunately, Zell was quick with his summon. The sky darkened as grey clouds blocked out the sun. All of a sudden, a flash of lightning illuminated the sky and the great bird-like spirit Quezacotl appeared, shining like a green beacon in the gloom. Focusing it's gaze on the machine summoning a mighty thunderstorm crashing down upon it, which seemed to collapse, as the surge of electricity blew some of it's fuses away and damaged it's motors and other parts. They could see it was trying to get back up.

            "Did we destroy it?" asked Selphie, hopefully.

            "I dunno, just run!" Zell offered the best advice he could think of; which they took, leaving it to collapse. They'd only gone about 100 metres, when they saw the machine was still following them.

            "I thought we busted it up!" wailed Selphie, stopping to hurl another Thunder spell at it. It seemed to falter again, but then started up again.

            "It's fixing itself!" realised Zell.

            "Just run!" yelled Squall. "Maybe the narrow paths will be too much for it!"

            They carried on, it hadn't finished fixing itself yet, but they weren't going to wait until it had. They were much more nimble than it was, and could handle the corners much better. But on the straights, it was far faster and had it not been for the twisting of the path, it would have easily caught up with them. So far, they'd been ok, but then they saw the bridge they'd have to cross in order to get back to the shore. It was very long and straight. It would catch them for sure. So far they'd been running for at least 5 minutes and Selphie felt her lungs would explode; she'd already done the run UP the mountain to find them.

            They reached the bridge and, as they expected, the robot had the advantage. They were halfway there, when Squall looked back and realised something.

            "Turn round!" He called "Run the other way."

            "You crazy?" gasped Zell.

            "Just do it!" They did as he told and saw what Squall had; the robot had been ready to jump, and as it did, expecting to catch them, they ran straight back under it. It turned to jump back, and they ran back again. By the time it'd turned around, they'd put enough of a distance between them to make it to the cover of the city. But the machine was not far behind them now, and they knew they couldn't make it back to the shore without it catching them, not at this rate. They put an extra burst of speed on, but even cover of the city didn't help much; the monster just tore through everything as if it were paper.

"Squad C! Move out!" yelled the terrified leader of Squad C as his group ran out of the pub as the monster's leg obliterated the wall.

Finally, they saw the arch under which they'd first passed. They were almost there. This time they didn't care about the drop; they jumped straight off the wall onto the beach and towards the vessels. They were halfway across the beach when Squall stumbled and fell. Selphie reached a vessel and ran inside, Zell had reached one, and was about to run inside, when he turned round.

            "Squall!" he shouted in desperation. "Come on!"

            Squall picked himself up in time to see the spider-machine above him on the wall, ready to pounce on him. This time he had nowhere to run.

            In the last minute, Quistis, had arrived on the bridge of one of the vessels, and handily at the controls for one of the enormous sub-machine cannons mounted on the top. She pulled the trigger and fired it for all it was worth.

            With every chipboard, wire, valve and circuit shot to pieces, the robot had no chance of repairing itself this time. Squall achingly ran under the cover of gunfire and into the haven of the ship.


	5. Results and Reprimands

5. Results and Reprimands

            "YOU BASTARD!! YOU RAN OFF AND LEFT US TO FEND FOR OURSELVES!! SQUALL WAS ALMOST KILLED 'COZ OF YOU!!" Zell was in an apoplectic rage with Seifer, who, as usual, showed no remorse.

            "My dear little Chicken-wuss," he sarcastically soothed. "I had to take the best possible action. Had I not started to run, you could have stood around arguing for ages. A good captain will always do his best to motivate his team and make sure they undergo valuable experiences, teaching them their worth. Bet you didn't know you could run so fast, did you Chicken? Especially with a load in your pants."

            Zell was on the verge of smashing Seifer's skull now, he tried so hard to keep his temper. "CAPTAIN?? TEAM?? You never gave a damn about us. You were working as a one-man army and looked at us as a burden. You'll fail, but you didn't care if we did, or even if we died, just as long as you got your way!?"

            "Failed? For what? A good SeeD will always take the initiative and do what is necessary to achieve the mission."

            Had Quistis not chosen that minute to walk in, Zell didn't know what he would have done. He had more important people to worry about then Seifer anyway. "Stuff him," he thought. .

            "How's Squall?" asked Zell.

            "He's fine, a bit exhausted, so is Selphie. I think he really did think he'd had it on the beach there."

            Zell nodded. "Had you not shot it to hell, I think he would have done. I'm going to go see him."

            They both left, leaving Seifer alone. Which was fine, he could do without either of them. He knew he was destined for greatness, they were all just chaff who'd hold them back. Except for Squall. He was his one equal. He thought he'd been afraid of showing his worth, but he'd proved a formidable fighter. They'd both pass and then, they'd still be equal. He must do something. Train harder. He'd show everyone who doubted him, he was the best. They thought he'd made the wrong decisions today. That was because they all had such a poor scope on the reality of it all. They'd found the enemies' plans after all. Surely they'd have to recognise that.

            The arrived back at Balamb harbour. The evening was coming and there was a cool breeze blowing about, bringing the smell of the sea, which Seifer breathed in deeply as he opened the door, pleased to be home. He was also pleased to see Raijin and Fujin waiting for him.

            "Hey! We've been waiting for ya, ya know!" Raijin called.

            "SAFE?" inquired Fujin.

            "Same old stuff. No problem. All they did was get in my way though. Being a leader ain't easy." he gloated jumping out the vessel, then heading over to meet them, followed by a still-cursing Zell. He turned back towards it to watch as Squall, Selphie and Quistis walked out.

            Quistis called them over to give them a debriefing. "Well done, everyone" she congratulated. "It's 19:20 now. Meet back at Garden at 2030 hours for the results. You have free time until then. Dismissed."

            "Ah! Glad to back eh, Squall?" Zell turned to his comrade, who nodded.

            They turned to go to the Garden car, just in time to see Seifer, Raijin and Fujin drive off in it at top speed.

            "That little…! Who does he think he is?" fumed Zell.

            "Why don't you ask him?" Squall shrugged. "Come on, it's a nice day. We may as well walk it, it's only a 20-minute walk back to the Garden."

            "Yeah, alright! We can talk about the mission. Do you think we made it?" piped in a still bubbling Selphie.

            "Yeah, we may as well, I guess." said Zell, a bit deflated. He'd just had enough for one day. He knew if he never saw Seifer again, he would not be disappointed.

            But Squall was right. It was a nice enough day to walk, and he had another idea. They were on free time, after all. They walked up to the main street in Balamb, when to the surprise of the other two, he turned and walked into one of the houses.

            "Come on!" he beckoned to the others.

            They were greeted by a large, bubbly, woman, with her hair tied back in a bun. She was obviously pleased to see them.

            "Zell! This is a nice surprise. Are these your friends?"

            "S'up ma!" Zell greeted his mother. "We've had the exam today. This is Squall and Selphie." He turned to his comrades. "This is my house, but don't make yourselves too comfortable."

            "Nonsense! Take a seat!" Zell's mother offered. "Tell me all about it! Does anyone fancy some tea or cake?"

            "Ooh! Yes please!" trilled an enthusiastic Selphie.

            Squall knew they should be getting back to Garden. But they were on free time. And he was hungry. He wouldn't say no to a slice of cake, he decided.

            They took a seat and Zell's mother poured them each a cup of steaming hot tea and sliced a cake for them all, then joined them at the table.

            "So, come on, tell me! Did you all pass?" she was keen to know.

            "We don't know yet." Squall told her. "We don't find out until half 8."

            "Well, how do you think you did?"

            "Hard to say really. We survived, we didn't lose any battles, and… well… we obeyed all our direct orders." Zell wasn't too sure how to explain Seifer's renegade mission or how Garden were going to react to it. He looked over at Squall and could see he was worrying the same thing. Selphie was probably ok. She'd obeyed all her orders, direct and indirect as far as they could tell. And the fact that she'd chased them all the way up the mountain to find them would speak credit for her. But Garden would definitely know they'd left their post now. And furthermore, the fact that they'd caused someone outside their Squad to nearly miss the withdrawal would not look too good. Yes it was true they'd discovered Galbadia's plans, to get the Tower up and running. Or had they? They didn't know what they wanted. And they hadn't stopped them either.

            "Well, that all sounds promising." Zell's mother was saying. She looked at her son. "You've got such a talent at martial arts, I know you'll pass with flying colours!"

            Zell didn't reply. He couldn't tell her they'd made a decision today that could potentially cost them their futures. He flashed a look at Squall.

            Squall hadn't really known Zell that long, but he could clearly read it. "_I'm gonna kill Seifer_." And Squall knew exactly how he felt.

            He stood up. "Thank you for hospitality Mrs Dincht, but we must be going. We've got to walk back to Garden, and I don't want to miss our results."

            "Yes, of course. Well, good luck to all of you. Let me know how it went."

            They all thanked her and left.

            "Man, we shouldn't have done that." Zell realised afterwards.

            "Why not? Your mum was really nice!" Selphie was confused.

            "I know; that's the thing!" Zell was deflated. "We never should have gone to the tower. We could fail now, and now that I've made my ma think that we've done so well, she'll be dead disappointed if we do."

            "But you were taking this exam for you." Squall didn't see why Zell was so bothered.

            "Yeah, but I want to do my ma proud!" Zell protested.

            Squall sort of wished he knew how Zell felt. But what with having no memory of his own parents…

            "Let's go." he said. He didn't want to get onto that.

            "Huwaaaah!" Zell stretched out. It had taken them nearly half an hour to trek back up the hills towards Garden.

            "Well, we just wait for our results now. Good luck to you!" Selphie waved 

them goodbye.

            "Yeah, see ya Squall!" Zell left.

            Squall just walked off. He'd reached the foyer, and saw Quistis, Xu and Cid all talking. He would have walked off, but he realised they were talking about the mission.

            "So, the Galbadians were after the old Communications Tower?" Cid was saying.

            "It appears so." Xu informed him. "They agreed to withdraw as long as the tower is repaired and the uplink remains operational. We could have made more money if they'd stayed and caused more aggro, but…"

            "Well, everyone's back safely, that's the main thing." Cid replied. "I'll go and look over the reports now." He left.

            Xu and Quistis noticed Squall for the first time.

            "Hey! You did pretty well!" Xu congratulated him.

            "Of course! He's my best student!" Quistis said as if it was obvious, then turned to Squall and smiled. "Not very social though."

            "…Whatever." Squall and Quistis spoke in unison.

            Squall decided he wasn't going to stick around for this and walked off. He headed round the corner and saw Seifer standing by the lake, looking in a very dark mood.

            "Did you hear about the Communications Tower in Dollet? We would have been heroes if not for that withdraw order." He half spat the word 'withdraw' with contempt.

            "You were only looking for a fight!" Quistis arrived on the scene. "You'll take all responsibility for leaving the designated area."

            "Isn't it the Captain's decision to take the best possible course of action? Those are rather cruel words you use for such an aspiring student. A mediocre instructor like you will never understand." Seifer didn't want criticism. He felt hampered by them. There it was; he'd made the decision to thwart the enemy, only to have them order him to pull out.

            "Seifer! Stop being so up yourself!" Xu joined in the argument. "You'll never be a SeeD! Calling yourself a captain is a joke! You can't follow orders! You act recklessly, you don't look after your team-mates, and furthermore you endanger not only them, but students from other groups as well! You are a poor student! Just because you have prodigious fighting skills, doesn't make you a good fighter!" She turned when she saw Cid arriving.

"Seifer." Cid started his piece. "You will be disciplined for your irresponsible behaviour. You must follow orders exactly during combat." His voice softened. "But I'm not entirely without sympathy for you. I don't want you all to become machines. I want you all to be able to think and act for yourselves. The problem for you is, knowing how to act in such positions. Xu's right, you put a lot of people in danger today, and your fellow team-mates in a predicament. To disobey orders, or to break the team. Even WHEN they chose to keep the team together, you STILL left them. There's more to being a SeeD than just being able to fight. I am…"

He was cut off by a member of the Garden Faculty. "Headmaster, you have some business in your office. The results are due to be announced soon."

Cid scratched his head. "There's so many issues at stake here." He sighed and walked over to the elevator, then disappeared up to his office.

Squall looked at Seifer and saw his head was hung and his shoulders shaking. He wasn't sure if he was crying or angry, but he decided not to stick around and find out. As if to save him, the intercom chimed into life.

"ALL STUDENTS WHO PARTICIPATED IN TODAY'S FIELD EXAM, PLEASE REPORT TO THE 2ND FLOOR HALLWAY. I REPEAT. ALL STUDENTS WHO PARTICIPATED IN TODAY'S FIELD EXAM, PLEASE REPORT TO THE 2ND FLOOR HALLWAY."

In the hallway there were a lot of people pacing about, or looking nervous. Squall recognised many of them instantly.

"RAGE!" Fujin for instance, who fixed him with an evil gaze. Almost robotic, to match her voice. He carried on walking and felt Raijin tap him on the shoulder.

"I'd stay away from Fujin, ya know. She was saying it'd be all your fault if Seifer didn't pass. She can be pretty scary, ya know."

Seifer was just standing in the corner looking mad. It was obvious he'd failed. He knew it after Quistis, Xu and Cid's words. But to blame it on him? Seifer had brought this upon himself. Squall had gone along with the idiot and was unsure of his OWN success.

The truth was, Seifer could just not bear the thought of his rival bettering him. He knew he'd failed now, he just hoped he'd brought Squall and the Chicken-wuss down with him.

A member of the Garden Faculty entered the corridor.

"These are the SeeD candidates who have passed. I'll announce them in alphabetical order.

Zell. Zell Dincht, please step forward."

"OHHHHHHH YEAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" There was no disguising Zell's triumph as he leapt up giving a victory-punch in midair. "See ya guys!" and with that he ran off down the corridor."

"Nida. Nida Elan."

A young man Squall didn't know personally walked forward showing all the calm and collectiveness that Zell didn't.

"Squall. Squall Leonheart."

He'd done it! Relief flooded over him like a tidal wave. Seifer was furious of course, having been passed the 'A's there was now no hope for him. He didn't say anything, but everyone near to him, stepped back as his mouth twisted into a snarl and his eyes narrowed in hatred and spite towards Squall as he left to receive his promotion. Squall didn't care, or even look at his rival as he walked down the corridor to collect his award. Behind him he heard the Faculty call out,

"Selphie. Selphie Tilmitt. That is all." To a whoop of joy from Selphie, and various cries and moans from the other 8 students who'd failed.

The four of them all stood to attention in Cid's office in the very top of Garden, giving them a magnificent view of the entire island Balamb and Garden were situated on. The pride they all felt was almost tangible in the air. And they all had good reason to be. They'd worked hard for this day, and now, it was finally here.

"First of all, congratulations. Becoming a SeeD is not easy, but today, you have all shown yourselves worthy of carrying that title." Cid gave his speech. "However… From now on, as a member of SeeD, you will be dispatched all over the world. We are proud to introduce SeeD, Garden's mercenary soldiers, BUT that is only one aspect of SeeD. When the time comes…"

Once again, the Garden Faculty cut him off. "Headmaster, it's almost time for the meeting. Please make this short." The man turned to them. "SeeD is a valuable asset to Garden. It's reputation goes before it. As a member of SeeD, you must carry that reputation and live up to it's name. Handle your mission with care. Is that what you wanted to say sir?" He turned back to Cid, who merely looked deflated. But he regained his composition and handed them each their SeeD rank report.

Nida it turned out had been Selphie's Squad Leader and had shown great pioneering qualities.

Zell and Squall had been reprieved from nearly failing for the fact they had shown dedication to their team and done their best to work together. The very thing they'd been hoping for when they followed Seifer. That and their combat skills.

Selphie had also passed for sheer dedication and not giving up on her task.

As for the failures, well, everyone knew exactly how and why Seifer had failed, and probably always would. The entire Squad C failed for hiding in the pub. Squall remembered them leaving as the spider-machine tore through the town. Squad D had failed to secure their area and had to retreat. The remaining member of Selphie and Nida's squad just hadn't been up to it, combat-wise. Not that any of this mattered to Squall. He'd passed. All his years of training and dedication had paid off. He was a SeeD! On Squall's report was a handwritten note from Cid himself. "Finally… A gunblade specialist."

The four of them headed down in the lift.

"Yo! C'mon, let's get back to class! I can't wait to give my speech in front of the class. Any idea what you're going to say in yours Squall?"

The truth was, Squall had no idea. He'd not looked any further than this point in his life. Now it all seemed one big uncertainty. The truth was, he was feeling pretty overwhelmed. They exited the lift.

"I know! I know!" Selphie was lively as ever. "I'm going to thank everyone here for accepting me and helping me when I transferred from Trabia. The graduation ball tonight's going to be the best though!"

They stopped when they turned round the corner and saw all the other students who'd failed that day. Seifer was at the point. He stepped forwards. Zell raised his fists as if prepared to defend himself.

Seifer brought his hands together. Uneasily it seemed, the others all joined in, as if unsure what Seifer meant. Even Raijin and Fujin were there, clapping, until it sped up and all four were facing a round of applause.

Some obviously meant genuine congratulations. But Seifer? Was he congratulating, mocking or threatening? It was a question Squall never found the answer to.

Squall stared at his reflection in the mirror. He had another go at fastening his shirt up. The new SeeD uniforms were tricky to put on, that much had to be said for them. But they were certainly smarter and more prestigious than the standard Garden uniform. He sighed. He didn't know how he should be feeling. He'd passed the SeeD exam, and attained his life goal. So now what? He should be feeling proud to be donning this uniform after all these years. Maybe it was the fact it was for this graduation ball. Yes, it was a prestigious ceremony. Cid and Xu and all the other top people in Garden would be there. People from other Gardens as well. Other top members of SeeD. The new graduates, like himself, with their dates. They'd get their awards, there would be champagne and wine. Food and dancing.

But this kind of thing, these parties, they weren't for him. He'd rather be in the library, studying up on magic skills and GFs. Or in the training centre battling Grats and maybe even a T-Rexaur. But as a SeeD, it would be expected of him to attend the ceremony. He got his uniform on straight and looked around his room. It was to be for the last time. Now that he was a SeeD, he'd get his own room, without having to share. Not that sharing made much difference to Squall, he barely knew his room-mate; he was always out drinking and partying. He stepped outside his dorms and found Selphie waiting for him.

            "Hey! Looking good!" she admired him. "My SeeD uniform! Whaddya think?" she gave a little twirl in her uniform. "Come on then, let's hit that PAAAARTAY!"

            Squall was feeling awkward. He was standing in the corner, having polished off his second glass of champagne. He didn't normally drink, but he thought it might help him relax and get in the mood a little. He looked around and saw Selphie and Zell obviously in full swing. Zell noticed him and came running over.

            "S'up dude! Looks like we're both SeeDs now. Put it there man!" he held out his hand. Squall accepted another glass of champagne off the passing waitress and took another sip. Zell was not put off. He laughed, even.

            "Hah! Even as a SeeD you're still the same! Well, take care." He turned to leave but then Selphie approached them both.

            "Hey guys! Do you want to join the Garden Festival committee? It's going to be great!"

            "Erm, I'm just gonna get another drink." Zell excused himself. Squall took another drink. Selphie waited, then, when it was clear he wasn't go to give an answer, she ran off to try and recruit more members for the committee.

            Squall looked around and sighed, then drank the rest of his glass. He'd never drunk this much before and it was starting to go to his head a bit. The award ceremony was over and now everyone was talking, dancing and generally partying and he felt a bit left out. In one sense he wanted to join in, but he felt like a fish out of water and didn't really know where to start. He looked round the room again, and this time his eyes fixed on a young woman standing in the middle of the room. She was wearing a cream dress rather than SeeD uniform and was therefore not one of the graduates, yet she didn't seem to be with a date. This was quite unusual. Other than the Garden staff, the only non-SeeDs here were the dates of the graduates. She turned around and her gaze met his. She smiled at him, and Squall had to admit she was very beautiful. He smiled back and was surprised to see her walk over to him.

            "You're the best looking guy here." He couldn't help but be flattered. "Dance with me?"

            He paused and took another sip, a little uneasy this time.

            "I'm looking for someone, I can't be on the dance floor alone." She continued.

_Not with a date then... _

He wasn't sure how to respond. Normally he'd just leave well alone, but the drink was kicking in a bit, coupled with the fact that despite his anti-social behaviour, he was still a young male with desires.

            "Let me guess, you'll only dance with someone you like. How about this?" She stared into his eyes and starting waving a finger across his field of vision.

            "You're-going-to-like-me. You're-going-to-like-me" she chanted hypnotically, mantra-like, and then returned to normal. "Did it work?"

            He had to admit he was interested, he'd still not responded, yet she was still here talking to him. He'd almost decided to give in, but there was still one other small problem. Might as well admit it.

            "I can't dance." He spoke his first words of the evening.

            She just laughed. "You'll be fine! Come on!" And with that, she just grabbed his hand and led him on to the floor. He half protested, but still allowed himself to be dragged along. He became very self-conscious when he realised he'd been led into the very centre of the floor and everyone was watching him. And why shouldn't they? Here he was Squall Leonheart, the cold, distant student who never socialised, and yet was actually on the dance floor with someone. The girl, obviously not from Garden, was totally oblivious to his reputation of course, and thought nothing of this. She placed one hand of his onto her hip and took the other in her own, before placing her free hand on his shoulder. Squall felt really awkward now. This girl quite obviously knew how to dance, whereas he hadn't a clue. He made a vain attempt at moving in time with the music but as she moved closer, he almost fell over his feet. Unperturbed, she just smiled and carried on the dance. This time, he felt a bit more comfortable and managed to hit some sort of rhythm. He was managing; until she swung her body out and span back around into him. He was caught off guard and fell backwards, knocking into another SeeD with his date as he did so.

            "Watch it!" The man was annoyed. The girl just glared at him. Squall decided he'd had enough and made to leave, but the girl grabbed his hand and pulled him back. The band sparked up a new tune and the girl led him into a new dance. He recognised this tune… and then something happened. He remembered being taught to dance to this song. It was a very long time ago, but he remembered now… _she'd taught him when he'd only been young... _Having revived the memory, it all came flooding back to him. This time, he led the dance with confidence. The girl was obviously impressed as he managed all the steps with impeccable timing. He became aware of everyone watching again, but this time he didn't care. The dance ended with an appropriate firework display and he ended up with the girl in his arms. 

All of a sudden, she seemed to notice something.

            "I er… have to go. Thanks." She smiled at him and released herself from his arms.

            He made a brief attempt to stop her and gave up. Picking up a fourth glass of champagne, he went to stand outside on the balcony. He felt a bit disappointed. He was actually enjoying himself there for a while. But it was probably better just to have left it at one dance. It had seemed she'd been interested in him, but he didn't want to let her too close to him. But there was something else. The dance had reminded him of another girl, the one who'd taught him that dance. His sister. How long was it since he had seen her? He could hardly even picture her face now. She'd been all he had, but she'd "gone away somewhere". Just like their mother, before her. He couldn't remember anything about her, he'd been so small at the time. As for his father… He couldn't even recall HAVING a father around. He'd "gone away somewhere" before Squall had even been born. It was in the time of the Sorceress War. Lots of children were left without families. He didn't like this. He hated thinking too much and bringing up painful memories.

            "You really are an exceptional student. Even that dance was perfect."

            Squall had been so wrapped up in his thoughts; he hadn't even noticed Quistis walk up behind him. He was a little irritated. His instructor was not the kind of person he wanted around right now. 

"Thank you." He responded. He really just wanted time alone right now. But she didn't leave. Neither did she speak. Quistis eventually broke the silence.

            "So, you'll dance with someone you don't even know, but you can't stand being around me?"

            He sighed and looked over the balcony at the ground below him, Neither of them spoke for a few seconds. "You're an instructor and I'm your student. It's kinda awkward if you stand there and don't say anything." He put her in the picture.

            "That's true. I was like that myself." She conceded. "…Oh, I completely forgot. I wonder what's to become of me? I've come to give you an order. You and I are to go to the 'secret area'."

            The secret area was inside the Training Centre. The Training Centre was the one area of Garden open at night, other than the dorms, and the secret area was where students would meet up to talk after curfew, as the Garden Faculty were awfully strict. Why would they be ordered to go there? Quistis was an instructor, but him?

            "What do we have to do there? Just to tell students they're violating curfew? If so, isn't that the job of the Disciplinary Committee?"

            She laughed. "No, no, it's nothing like that. Well, you'll find out once we get there. Get changed and meet me in front of the Training Centre. This is my final order."

            Squall left. There was something bizarre about this. Why would they be dispatched to the secret area? Then he realised Quistis had said it would be her last order. So she was the one making the order, but why? And why was it her last? He decided not to think about it too much. In any case it got him away from the party.


	6. Memories and Emotions

6. Memories and Emotions

            There was no doubt about it. Quistis had been behaving rather oddly today. She seemed distant when he saw her waiting outside the training centre, but then her face lit up when she saw him approach.

            "Are you ready?" He nodded. "Come on, let's go."

            Squall had been in the training centre many times, but never to the secret area. Going through was easy enough, most of the monsters in there seemed to be asleep as well. Right at the back, they found it. A flight of steps, leading over the electric fences which kept the monsters in, and up to an area outside the main building of Garden, but still on the premises, and out of sight of the Faculty of course. There were only four other people there, both couples, obviously, who were too preoccupied to notice Squall and Quistis arrive.

            Quistis looked up at the stars. "I haven't been here in a while." She said as if recalling an old memory as she walked over to the wall. Squall followed her and they stood, side by side for a while in silence. Once again, it was Quistis who broke it.

            "What time is it?"

            Squall didn't know the exact time but… "It's after midnight." He knew that much at least.

            "Oh well." She hung her head and slumped down onto the wall. Squall was surprised. He'd never seen her look so despondent. Finally, she drew herself up and looked up at the sky again.

            "As of now then, I, Quistis Trepe, am no longer an instructor!" She spoke with an air of formality. "I'm a member of SeeD now, just like you." She turned to him, and it seemed her next words were spoken with an air of hope. "Who knows, maybe we'll end up working together."

            "Really?" This was a tricky one for Squall. He didn't know what to say to her. There was nothing he could do, or say which would make things right, or reverse the decision. He realised now, that Quistis had summoned him out here to tell him this. But why him? She had other friends, more powerful, like Xu, who could perhaps change things.

            "Is that all you're going to say?" Quistis looked at him.

            "If that's how it was decided, you're going to have to abide by it." Cold, maybe, but still, that was the harsh truth of it

            "They told me, I failed as an instructor, that I lacked leadership qualities." She carried on. Her words came a bit faster now, as she pulled them from her memory, sounding like she was trying to choke back tears. "I was a SeeD by 15, got my instructor's licence when I was 17, only last year. I felt so proud, and, and now… I just… Where did I go wrong? I did my best." She looked straight at him now. "Didn't I?" Her eyes pleaded with him.

            He didn't know about that, but there was one thing on his mind. Quistis having her instructors licence withdrawn and another event from a certain student of hers who'd failed far too many times. These two events from the day seemed to add up.

            "Does this have anything to do with Seifer? With the exam today? Seifer's failed too many times, but he's always been your student. Is he responsible? They're sacking you as an instructor for the sake of one idiot with no self-control?" He didn't normally get involved in these kind of things, but he just felt angry at Seifer. It was bad enough he screwed his own life up, he didn't have to drag everyone else down with him.

            "Oh, I've no doubt he's part of the reason." This time Quistis' voice was edged with bitterness and anger. "But I even tried with him. Tried to make him understand. Maybe that was part of the reason, I can't get through to my students. But I've tried. Tried to get to know them and understand them. Like with you."

            This was more uncomfortable now. It was becoming increasingly clear why it was him Quistis had brought along to talk to, but she was getting too close for comfort now.

            "Are you done? I… I don't really want to talk about it. What is there that I can say about other people's problems? They're not mine, so I can't do anything about them."

            "I'm not asking you to say anything. I just want you to listen." She put his hand on his shoulder and moved closer to him. Squall decided it was time to pull away.

            "Then go talk to a wall." It was rude, but he didn't care, he walked off. He'd had enough of Quistis trying first of all to try and get inside his life and now for trying to force hers on him. Quistis was upset, shocked and surprised.

            "Aren't there times when you just want to share your feelings? Get things off your chest?" she called after him. He turned back.

            "Everyone has to take care of themselves. I don't want to carry anyone's burden." This time he left. Quistis watched him and sighed.

            "No leadership qualities… Maybe they're right." She slumped down against the wall and watched as Squall walked down the stairs back into Garden. Then she looked at the two couples on either side of her, lost in their own worlds. She put her head in her hands and began to cry.

            Squall stormed through the training centre. He didn't look back to see if Quistis was following him. His head was spinning now. He was confused at his own behaviour. It had been so unlike him to have danced with that girl, to party and to flirt. And then after it was over, he'd pushed Quistis away. But then, Quistis was his instructor. Not officially anymore of course, but in his eyes, that's who she'd always be. It was awkward this morning when she was trying to be his friend, let alone when she'd tried to confide in him and more just then. But he didn't like the memories the dance had brought back.

            He stopped and tried to concentrate. His father, his mother and his sister. He wished he had just one picture of all of them together. Just so he knew what they looked like. Even though he had no memory of ever being with his father, he still wished he knew what he looked like at least. But they'd all, "gone away", left him, and he'd ended up here, an orphan at Garden. That was all he could remember clearly. Growing up here and training to be a SeeD. That had been his whole life, now he'd accomplished it, what would happen now? 

He remembered being at Zell's house earlier. He now felt a pang of jealousy for him. Before he didn't see why Zell was so bothered that he may have got his mother's hope up. Now he wished he had a home to go to. He wished he could go home and say "Mum, I passed today!" Somewhere with a real family and where he could call his own. Not just the environment he worked and was taught in, and where the only person who'd been with him all his life was Seifer.

And Seifer. In one way, they were so similar. They'd endured the same thing. Seifer had never had any home, or family. He was an orphan just like him, who'd only ever really known Garden. And yet, how different had Seifer turned out?

Squall was so wrapped up in thought, he hadn't realised he'd been hearing the screams for help without even registering them.

He turned the corner to see a girl cornered by a huge insect-like flying beast. Instinctively he grabbed his gunblade and ran at it. He couldn't get at its head or chest, where he knew it would be vulnerable, so instead he made to grab it's attention by slicing at it's tail. He didn't cut it off, but left a sizable wound in it that caused the monster to turn round. It bore down on him so it could attack him with its claws. This was just the opportunity Squall needed to attack its face. The monster reared off with pain and flew up. Believing it to be retreating, he sheathed his gunblade and went to help the girl. In an instant he was bowled over. Picking himself up, he saw that the creature was an armadillo like animal, with a hard shell, and that the winged-monster was carrying another in its claws. His instincts returning, Squall cursed himself for letting his guard down and dived for cover as the creature slung the armoured monster at him. He drew his gunblade again, and realised, there were in fact three of these beasts around him. The original beast then whipped that one with its tail to send it hurtling at him like a boulder.

Reaching cover, he realised what the situation was. The armadillo creatures were too slow and clumsy to do any harm by themselves, but were deadly ammunition for the winged-beast circling him from above. Likewise, without the three creatures on the ground, the beast in the air was weak to him. He decided he had to dispose of the creatures on the ground first. He swung his gunblade at the nearest one. It took him only seconds to realise, that due to their armour, his blade was going to have no effect on them. So how to get rid of them? Standing around trying to summon a GF was suicide. He'd have to use magic.

Finding the armadillo's brain (or Raldo, he found out when he reached it's mind) was easy enough and he was glad to find it used Protect. Quickly he cast it on himself. This would put him in a better position. He then found the other creature (Granaldo's) mind and even better, it carried Blind, which he cast on it. The monster blinked once or twice as it tried to focus through the fog that descended over it's face. That would give him time whilst the beast tried to find some Raldo's to play with. Finally he cast Fire on the Granaldo, which had no chance of dodging under Blind and set it's wings on fire. Flapping furiously only made it worse, obviously, and as the creature set down on the ground, he launched himself at it and cut a huge gash across its chest.

Squall then realised, the air was getting colder and the fire in the creature's wings was out, which gave it enough lift to take flight, clumsily this time though. He turned round to see Shiva freezing the three Raldo's to death. Quistis had joined the fight. He smiled. They'd finish the beast off in no time now. It was losing height, as its wings were slowly disintegrating, and losing strength from the three wounds Squall had made. Had it not possessed quite a thick exoskeleton itself, it would already have died. But as it slowly neared the ground, it fell at just the right height for Squall and Quistis to finish it off. Two more slashes to the face from Squall's gunblade along with a few cracks of Quistis' whip and the beast lay dead.

They then turned their attention to the girl.

"Squall? Quisty?" she said when she saw them and fell to her knees. It was only then that Squall recognised her as the girl who he'd seen in the infirmary that morning. It seemed so long ago now.

Then two other figures arrived. Their uniforms were of the same shape as that of the SeeD uniform, except they were all white, with grey shoulder blades and shins. Squall had never seen this uniform before.

"It's not safe here, please let's go." They spoke to the girl. Gently, they eased her up and led her away. They bowed in respect to Squall and Quistis. Quistis was equally as baffled as Squall.

"Who was that?" she turned to Squall. When he didn't answer, she turned to watch the girl walk away and sighed.

"Squall, it's not like everyone can get by on their own. You have to rely on others at times."

"Says who?" Squall replied, absently, as though he hadn't really been listening. They walked out the training centre and back to the dorms in silence. They'd said an amicable goodbye to each other and Squall left and walked into his new room. The porters had already moved his possessions into here and set up the room as close to his old quarters as possible. But Squall was hardly noticing. He went to his bed and instantly collapsed on it. His day had been long and eventful and he was tired. But he couldn't stop thinking about her. She'd recognised him in the infirmary and he hadn't known who she was. She'd recognised Quistis, who'd been equally clueless. Just who was this girl?


	7. The New Mission

7. The First Mission

He didn't know how long he'd slept, or how deep, but he was woken by Selphie knocking on his door.

"Squall? Hurry and get changed. We've got our first SeeD mission already. We're going to Timber. Meet by the front gate in an hour."

Already? He'd only become a SeeD yesterday. Oh well, at least he wouldn't be hanging round getting bored. He got dressed and left his dorm, making sure he'd got his gunblade and plenty of ammo. He didn't know when he'd next get the chance to stock up.

He was walking past the library when he saw Zell heading inside.

"First SeeD mission huh? Whaddya think?" Zell sounded impressed.

"Nice to get stuck in, I guess." Though he didn't even know anything about the mission.

"Oh, um, I'm sorry, didn't you want a book about Timber?" One of the library girls with a pigtail came out and handed a book shyly over to Zell.

"Oh, um, yeah, thanks. I was just coming to look for it. Do you have 'Goodbye Pupurun" in by any chance? I've had it on hold for ages." Zell seemed equally shy, but trying to make an effort.

"No, I'm sorry, it's still on loan to a man named Raijin." The girl shook her head.

Squall decided to leave them and get some breakfast, though it wasn't long before Xu collared him.

"Hey! I hear you have your first SeeD mission already! Guess they have high hopes for you. Well, good luck."

Did everyone know already? What was the big deal? He went for breakfast and vaguely wondered what the mission was. It probably wasn't a very big deal if new recruits like him and Selphie were on it. But then they'd probably have some more experienced members with them. Finishing off, he went to the front gate, where Selphie, Cid and a Garden Faculty member were waiting for him.

"Squall Leonheart? Just in time." The Faculty member gave him the same lifeless response as they all did.

Squall was surprised. He'd expected more to be here than this. Surely it wasn't just him and Selphie on the mission? But he held his tongue. They'd be briefed soon enough anyway.

"We'll give the other one one more minute." The Faculty member looked at his watch. So there was someone else after all. At that moment, Zell chose to come haring down the path on his skateboard. He zig-zagged along the road, before kicking the end up and catching it. 

_"Showing off again"_ thought Squall.

"Made it!" Zell breathed.

The Garden Faculty looked at him with annoyance. "Skateboards are prohibited within Garden. Have you forgotten?" He reprimanded.

"Oops, sorry." Zell realised what a mistake it had been to parade on one right in front of the Faculty. He tried to wriggle out. "But this is really cool. Think about it, it may come in handy on a SeeD mission someday."

"We'll be the judges of that." As if by telepathy, another Faculty member appeared and confiscated it. "You may be a SeeD now, but you are still Garden students and must abide by the rules. And as SeeDs, you must set an example to those below you." He turned back to the others, avoiding Zell's look of scorn and his shaking fist. Garden Faculty were not among Zell's list of favourite people.

"Well, onto the mission briefing." Cid decided it was time to move on. "It is quite straightforward. You will be going to Timber, to support a resistance faction, known as the "Forest Owls" there."

The faculty broke in "A member will contact you at the station. He will say 'The forests of Timber sure have changed.' You must complete the password with the phrase "But the owls are still around.' Do not forget."

"Just follow the faction's orders. That is all." Cid finished the briefing.

"What? Just us three? We only became SeeDs yesterday." Zell spoke Squall's thoughts.

"Correct. We agreed to this contract for very little money." The Garden Faculty explained.

"_That explains a lot then._" Thought Squall, though still not very happy about there only being three, and, as much as he disliked the term, newbies at that.

"Normally we wouldn't accept such requests, but…" Here it seemed the Faculty member shot a dirty look at Cid. Cid seemed to think so too.

"Enough!" He flashed his own look back. "Squall, you are the Squad Leader. Use your best judgement for the situation. You are working for the faction, but you are still head of the Squad when it comes to battles and when the faction requires your input. Zell, Selphie, support Squall as much as possible and work to the best of your abilities. Catch the train at Balamb Station. I've organised the tickets for you." He handed them over to Squall and dismissed them. "Best of luck to you."

They took the car to Balamb.

"This is pretty cool huh? We pass our SeeD exam together, and now we're on our first mission together!" Selphie was as enthusiastic as ever.

"Yeah! I think we'll be ok! We made a good team yesterday, didn't we? Whaddya reckon Squall?"

"Maybe." It was true they'd all passed together and they'd fought well against the monster on top of the communications tower. He wasn't too happy with being Squad Leader though. It wasn't that he didn't like being a leader, he was happy they were confident in him, he just needed a little more confidence in himself. He was a good fighter, he knew that, but he'd only ever been on one real mission, and had no experience as a leader. Having said that, Seifer had had lots of mission experience and still failed every time. But then he thought, they were in the hands of this faction. They'd have the plans, they could make the decisions. All he had to do was play along.

"It'll be fine. We'll have fun!" Selphie was obviously confident enough. "What time's the train?"

Squall checked the tickets. "Half an hour. It'll take us five minutes to get to Balamb, so then we've got 25 minutes to kill."

"We could go see your mother again!" Selphie spoke to Zell this time.

"I dunno. I suppose I should say goodbye, I mean I don't know how long we'll be gone. But then, I don't want her worrying about me."

"She knows you're a SeeD. She'll be expecting you to be on missions." Squall spoke with reason.

"Ah, dammit! I never even got through on the phone last night to tell her." Zell remembered. "I guess I should stop on and say hi."

The group nodded and decided to head to Zell's house.

"Zell! Hello! Are you off today or something?" Zell's mother was pleased to see him.

"Nah! My first mission in Timber." Zell scratched his head awkwardly.

"Mission? You mean…?"

"Yeah! I passed!" Zell broke into a broad grin. His mother was quite clearly delighted.

"You passed! Well done! I just knew you would! You've been full of potential. But your first mission, already?" She sounded serious now, and a tad scared. "Well don't go taking any risks, you hear? You come back safe. All of you!"

"I'll be OK ma!" Zell sounded reassuring. "It's not a tricky mission. I promise, I'll come back and tell you all about it."

"We're a good team! We can handle anything!" Selphie joined in. Zell's mother was back to her usual self.

"You'll all do great. Make me proud!" She hugged Zell. "What time are you leaving?"

"The train leaves in 20 minutes." Squall handled business matters as usual.

"Well get going then, you hear. You don't want to be late."

"OK, bye ma! Love you!" Zell and Selphie walked out. Squall turned to leave, but Zell's mother got his attention."

"You're the leader aren't you? Take care of Zell for me."

He looked down. He was a bit more realistic in his expectations of this mission. If a resistance faction were hiring SeeDs, that meant they were probably pretty active and they would, in reality, be facing a lot of battles. But he didn't want Zell to go through everything he had, or his mother for that matter.

"I do my best." He promised. He couldn't do any more than that.

The train journey would be long, it had to go under the ocean to reach the continent.

"Yup, a transcontinental railroad baby! This train is awesome!" Zell's turn to be the enthusiast.

"And you're this excited from just the train?" Squall raised his eyebrow.

"Guess you're not interested." Zell sounded deflated.

"Oh I love trains!" Selphie piped up. "Hey Squall! Can we go inside the carriage, rather than just stay in this van? SeeDs get their own car!"

"Sure." Squall didn't see why not. They were SeeDs after all, they may as well take the privileges. But Zell and Selphie just stood there looking at him.

"Uh, you have to use the ticket to get inside." Zell pointed out after a minute or two.

"Oh, right." Squall swiped the card through the computer system. A green light flashed on. "OK, we can go inside now."

"I can't wait to check this out!" Selphie ran through the door first.

"Yeah, come on man." Zell turned to Squall and they both headed inside.

            There was a narrow corridor, for others to pass by to other parts of the train, and a door on the left leading to their private cabin. This was clearly the bit Zell was interested in.

            "OOOOOHHHHHHHH YEAHHHHHHHH! AWESOME!" were his first words as he stepped through the door.

            Bunk beds, soft lighting, thick carpet, a really fancy décor and big soft seats; which Zell was bouncing up and down on.

            "This is so cool!" he cried, unable to contain himself.

 Well, Squall had to admit it was pretty impressive. He knew they'd get privileges, but this was a pretty big one. And this was just the train.

            "I'm glad you're so excited!" he couldn't help but manage a slight smile at the scene of a young man bouncing up and down like a 5-year old again.

            "Check it out! We even get magazines for free!" Zell gestured to a coffee table. "You reckon we can order refreshments?"

            "There won't be anything readable amongst them." Squall didn't much care for this bit. "You only get fake true-life stories and travel magazines plumped up with pointless articles. You know what free magazines are like. But I guess we could see about a snack." He'd only eaten breakfast about an hour and a half ago, but he wouldn't say no to light bite.

            "This is cool! It sure pays to be a member of SeeD." Zell was still amazed.

            "Hey Squall, Zell, do you know anything about Timber, by the way?" Selphie cut in.

            "Yeah, a bit! It used to be a country surrounded by deep forests. But 18 years ago, Galbadia invaded. Timber fell quite easily, so now it's under Galbadian occupation. The people of Timber don't like that though, they cut down all the trees and everything, so there's loads of resistance factions there." Zell volunteered his piece.

            "…And?" Squall was interested now. This all linked in to their mission. It probably meant they'd be fighting Galbadian soldiers again. He felt he'd had enough of that last time.

            "Nope, that's it." Squall was disappointed.

            "Thank you, Mr Know-It-All Zell."

            "Hey, No prob!" Zell didn't take any offence. "So how about that food? You still up for it?"

            "Sure, let's see what they've got to offer. Even if we do have to pay for it, I've got a few Gil on me."

            "Cool. Selphie?"

            "Uh, no thanks Zell, I don't think I'm feeling too well."

            "Get some rest if you're tired." Squall wanted them to be on top form and got up to see about a menu.

            "Yeah, that's probably a good idea. I'm getting really sleepy."

            Squall looked at her. Her eyelids looked really droopy and her face seemed blank.

            "You OK?"

            She didn't answer. Just crawled onto the lowest bunk and instantly crashed out. Squall looked over at Zell and realised he was starting to pass out in his chair too.

            "Zell? What's wrong?"

            "I… dunno man… I'm just… feeling… really…" Zell's words came out as if he were pouring all his effort in just to say them. Next thing, he was unconscious as well.

            "Selphie? Zell? What's going on here?" Squall was panicking now. Next thing he knew, he could hear a faint ringing in his ears and his legs were turning to jelly. He clutched his head.

            "What is this?" He managed to say, before he too, was lying unconscious on the floor.


	8. Laguna

8. Laguna

            "Uhh, Laguna, you sure this is the right way?" Ward looked at his friend, who could be a little absent-minded at times. Laguna merely kept on running. It all looked the same to him. Loads of trees and long-grass, as tall as them all, even Ward everywhere. But they were on a definite path here. It seemed right.

            He turned to his companions. Ward, a huge, giant of a man, with a deep scar down the side of his face. And Kiros, almost his exact opposite. Small, slight and dark-skinned.

            _Where am I?_

            "Hoo… boy. Not again." Ward had him sussed. They carried on running. Soon they were lost in deep thick forest. Finally Ward stopped him.

            "Hey! Aren't we here to fight a war? You know? Against the almighty Timber Army?"

            "Yeah, so why are we wasting our time messing with the animals?" Kiros continued?

            Laguna scratched his back and ran his hand through the hair that went down nearly to the base of it. "Well, um, you see, it's that…"

            "We're lost again, aren't we?" Kiros put it bluntly.

            "Hey it all looks the same here!" Laguna blurted in his defence. "Anyway, let's just find a truck and get home to Deling City."

            "Laguna, do you really think that as Galbadian soldiers, they'll be happy with us for that?" Kiros sighed.

            "Never mind about that. We'll just pretend we've never been here."

            The Galbadians were fighting Timber, so there were a lot of military vehicles about and it wasn't long before the trio found one. By a further stroke of luck, it was abandoned. Laguna jumped to the wheel and drove off.

            "Oh, man, are you sure it's such a good idea to let him drive?" Kiros held his head in his hands.

            "H-HEY! Laguna! You can't just park in the middle of the street!"

            It had taken two hours to drive home and it was night. Laguna just wanted to get to the hotel and have a drink, so he'd pulled up in the nearest possible place.

            "Chill man! It's cool. How about a drink?" He led the way.

            "We're not just here for the booze. We're meant to be at war!" Kiros reminded him.

            "So we'll get smashed and CHAAARGE!" Ward liked the plan.

            "Kiros, Ward, you guys misunderstand. I just want a friendly drink with you guys."

            "In other words, you want to hit on the lady who plays the piano and you need us for moral support." Kiros read his mind. It was a habit of his, Laguna had noticed. He could just tell what he or Ward were going to say before a word had left their lips. He didn't answer, just continued walking. Ward took one look at the traffic jam they'd just caused and decided it was a good idea to be somewhere else. The motion was seconded by Kiros. It wasn't far to the hotel anyway.

            There was a table for them. There always was for soldiers, and there were a fair few hanging around tonight.

            "Welcome sir! Your usual table is ready." The waitress recognised them.

            _What is this?_

            "Huh?" Laguna was confused.

            "What's wrong?" Kiros was puzzled.

            "I'm… not quite sure." Laguna was equally confused. "It just feels like my head's buzzing."

            "Yeah, me too. Ever since we were in Timber." Ward joined in. "Guess we've been working too hard. A drink or three should sort that out!"

            "Yeah! We'll take a seat!" Laguna liked the idea of that. The waitress sat them down and brought them each a beer over.

            "At ease men!" Laguna took a swig. "We're going all out tonight, right boys?"

            "Yeah. And this time you'll actually ask her out!" Kiros replied.

            "Julia should be making her appearance soon!" Ward gave his friend a nudge.

            The piano started playing. Laguna turned to watch her.

            "You go for it!" Kiros prompted.

            "Hey! Can't you see she's working?" Laguna felt awkward enough as it is.

            "Just wave, or smile. Show your support. Can't hurt."

            "Give me a break!" Laguna necked the rest of his pint. He was starting to regret his decision to come and watch Julia play tonight. He knew Ward and Kiros were going to force him to make a move. She was very, very beautiful, he had to admit, and he'd really like a shot with a girl like her, but…

            "We know you'll do it. How's about doing it know before you get legless and you make a fool out of yourself and regret it in the morning?" Ward was ever so subtle.

            "How's about, no more beer until you do?" Kiros' threat worked. Laguna got up. He'd go, talk to her, she'd ignore him, but at least they couldn't say he hadn't tried. He could see other soldiers nudging one another. Sheez, did EVERYONE know? Julia finished her song and Laguna walked up the steps towards the piano.

            _Ahhh, to be this close to Julia…_He thought.

            _Is this for real?_

            Julia looked up at him.

            _AH, NOOO!!!_

            His leg chose, this, of all moments to cramp up. He half fell on it. Here he was, on stage in front of everyone, rubbing his leg, his face in agony. He could hear people starting to laugh. Unable to take the humiliation, he hobbled back to his seat.

            _Sad…_

            His friends were supportive enough though.

            "Good work Laguna!" Kiros patted him on the back. "Have a seat."

            "Didn't think you'd actually do it." Ward admitted.

            "Come on guys, I must have looked like a right fool there!" Laguna felt miserable.

            "You tried anyway." Kiros handed him another beer. Laguna took a huge swig.

            "Say what you want." He sighed and looked down. "She sure is pretty though…"

            "Aaa…" He felt Kiros nudging him. "Laguna, we're taking off!"

            Laguna stood up and looked at them. "Hey guys, what's the rush?"

            Ward made a meaningful stare to some spot behind Laguna and darted after Kiros.

            _Cheers guys! _Laguna felt rotten.

            "May I?" a soft voice behind him inquired. Laguna turned round and almost jumped out of his skin when he saw Julia standing behind him. Still with cramp, he hobbled over and let her sit next to him.

            "I didn't interrupt anything did I?" she asked.

            "N-N-Not at all." Laguna was panicking now. After he thought he'd blown it as well… _Kiros, Ward, what the hell do I do guys!!???_

            "You OK now?"

            "Kind of…" She must be referring to his leg.

            "How's your leg?" WHY did she have to notice that? Was she just taking pity on him?

            "L-Leg? Yeah, this, it-it's ok now. Happens all the time if I get nervous." DAMMIT!!! Why did he say that? Now she'd know he was nervous going up there as well.

            "Were you nervous?"

            "Kinda" He looked down and scratched the back of his neck. He just couldn't bring himself to make eye-contact. Julia laughed.

            "You can relax! You don't have to get nervous around me."

            "Sorry!" He breathed out and tried to appear as relaxed as possible.

            "I have to play again in a minute." She lowered her voice a bit. "Would you like to talk somewhere private? I have a room here…"

            "I-In your room!?" All sense of relaxed-ness suddenly vanished.

            "Well, it's pretty hard to talk freely here. Everyone listens in. If you'd like to, pop up after the show. I've been wanting to talk to you for a while."

            This COULDN'T be real!

            "You don't want to?" she said seeing the look of shock on his face.

            "Of course I do!" He tried to sound as confident as possible.

            "OK then. I'll go up after the show. I'll tell the receptionist to let you up ok?"

            She left to play the piano again.

            _This is a dream… This is a dream…_

            Another song started, but Laguna barely seemed to register it. He felt like he was in a trance.

            "Genius! How'd you do it?" Kiros was patting him on the back.

            "Up to her room to talk eh?" Ward raised an eyebrow. "Just make sure the conversation's sophisticated!"

            "Hey man! That's my speciality!" Laguna was his old self again.

            "I wouldn't say you converse though. All you do is yap-yap-yap. You never listen to people."

            "Not tonight!" Laguna promised his pals and himself. "I'm all ears for Julia!"

            "Thanks for coming!" Julia greeted him.

            "N-Not at all. Thanks for inviting me." Laguna's heart was thumping now, he had no idea what to do. How to act? What to say? How far should he go? How far did Julia's plans go?

            "Have a seat." She offered.

            He walked in and sat down on the bed. Then worrying that he might be suggesting something by sitting here, he stood up and walked over to the chair. Then he worried he'd walked to far away and opted to stand. He walked back over to her. Julia was clearly amused.

            "Not leaving are yet are you?"

            "No, it's not that. It's just that I'm a big fan of yours" _Yeah, that's the best way to put it!_ "So I'm a bit nervous, y'know?"

            "Oh, so that's why you come to hear me play so often?"

            Laguna was taken aback "You saw me!?"

            "You were always smiling whilst listening, right?" she was smiling herself now as she walked over and looked in the mirror. "You have beautiful eyes. They look a bit scared now though."

            Scared? Just a bit!

            "Don't worry, I'm not going to eat them! I just want to talk, gazing into those eyes." Her voice was soft now. "Would you like a drink? Wine perhaps?"

            Laguna couldn't believe all this was happening. Earlier on Kiros and Ward were daring him to say hi and now this!

            "Sure!" He accepted a drink, not wondering if he should be mixing like this, after three pints downstairs already. This time Julia sat down on the bed, so he leaned against the dresser opposite the bed and took a sip.

            "Feeling better now?"

            "Yeah, I guess so." He searched for a topic of conversation. "So, how long have you been playing here? I've seen you quite a lot."

            "I've been playing piano for about 8 years." She replied. "But only here in the last year or so. It's nice to know people enjoy hearing me play. I'm surprised you get much time off being in the army. What's it like being a soldier?"

            "It's ok. I don't like fighting too much, but you get to travel, y'know. See new places. I like that. And it's fun 'cause Kiros and Ward are always with me. Maybe we should go out drinking some time?" He was loosening up now.

            "I'd kinda like to quit the army really, once the war's over and become a journalist, so I can tell people about the things I've seen. It's good to share things like that I think. I've tried writing, I think I can manage it. The other day one of my articles made the readers column. Pretty cool huh?"

            "I'm happy for you." She smiled. He realised he'd been rabbiting on again.

            "Yikes… I'm talking too much again!" He apologised. New topic. Talk about HER!! He stood up and moved closer to her.

            "Tell me about yourself, Like… your dreams for the future."

            This time she stood up and walked over to the window and looked out at the city below her.

            "I… I want to sing. Not just play the piano, but sing, too."

            "You should! I'd really love to hear that." Laguna encouraged.

            "But I can't. I'm no good at writing lyrics…" she sounded sad now. Laguna wasn't sure what to say now.

            "Hmm, that's tough." She turned to face him again.

            "But thanks to you, I think I can come up with something."

            "Thanks to me?"

            "Yes… All the faces you've shown me tonight. When you were excited, nervous. Your smile, your eyes." She walked right over to him. "You've shown me something… I think I can come up with a song."

            Now he knew it. This time he spoke his thoughts out loud.

            "Wow… I must be dreaming!"

            She took his hands and looked into his eyes.

            "It's not a dream, is it?" she spoke with a smile on her face.

            All of a sudden, there was a knock on the door.

            "Laguna! New orders! Meet by the Presidential Residence on the double!" Kiros' voice came from outside.

            DAMMIT!!!!!

            "Can we meet again?" Julia wanted to know.

            "Of course! I have to come hear you sing!"

            She gave him a quick kiss. Not wanting to, he wrenched his body away and left, knowing if he didn't go now, he couldn't take himself away. Of all the timing though…

            "I'll come and see you play again!" he told her as he left. "I promise."


	9. The Forest Owls

9. The Forest Owls

            "NEXT STOP, TIMBER. PLEASE GATHER ALL YOUR BELONGINGS!" The voice came through on the tannoy.

            Squall picked himself up. How long had they been out? The train trip to Timber must have taken at least three hours. He looked around. Zell and Selphie were coming round too.

            "Were we… all asleep?" He still felt dazed and confused.

            "Maybe someone released sleeping gas? There's lot's of people who resent SeeD." Zell suggested.

            "Maybe… Better be careful." Squall thought it was a good suggestion. Selphie had another thought.

            "Are we missing anything? Nothing's been stolen?"

            They all checked their pockets. Everything was still there.

            "Well I suppose they couldn't have got into the car without our tickets anyway." Zell reasoned.

            "No… I think you're right Zell, someone must have released gas. There's no other explanation I can think of. I don't know what their motives were, but we'd best be on our guard." The other two nodded in agreement.

            "Hee! I had such a nice dream though." Selphie smiled.

            _I had a dream too, but it wasn't nice_. Squall thought. _I dreamt I was a moron_.

            They all stood up, checking again that they had everything and went to the end carriage to disembark. Selphie couldn't stop about her dream though.

            "Seriously though, Sir Laguna was sooo cool!"

            "Hey! There was a Laguna in my dream too! He's a Galbadian soldier, right!?" Zell broke in. Now Squall was really confused.

            "Laguna, Kiros, and Ward…" he spoke slowly as if recalling the names from a trance. They all stood in stunned silence.

            "Yeah, that's it!" Zell's voice sounded far away.

            "That's what?" Squall wanted to know.

            "We all had the same dream." Selphie said unnecessarily. Then she shook her head and the air seemed to clear.

            "There's no way we can understand this, right? Let's just concentrate on our first mission."

            "I guess you're right. We'll put the incident on hold. I'll report it to the headmaster when we get back to Garden." Squall ended the conversation.

            "Here we go then! Psyche yourself up baby!" Zell was back on old form as the train pulled to a halt.

            Being the lunchtime train, there weren't a great many people at the station. Mainly couples waiting to meet each other. But there was one youth with shoulder length hair and a blue bandana hanging around by himself.

            "Oh, the forests of Timber sure have changed." He announced as the group walked passed him. This was obviously the faction rep.

            "But the owls are still around." Squall completed the password. The youth smiled.

            "Welcome to Timber, sir! Follow me sir."

            He led the way through Timber station to the end where there was what appeared to be a disused track. There was just one, extremely large yellow carriage there, which he led them into. Once they were in, it began to pull away. They quickly realised this was the group's mobile hideout.

            "So, you guys are SeeDs?" They were greeted by a man only a few years older than them, who had a chest which seemed to constantly stick out.

            Squall nodded. "I'm the Squad Leader, Squall. This is Zell, and Selphie." He gestured to his comrades.

            "Nice to meet you. I'm Zone, the leader of the Forest Owls." He held his hand out to Squall, who merely nodded in his usual, cold manner. Selphie however, took it and shook it warmly. Zell held his hand out, but Zone appeared not to even notice.

            "So, let's get on with it. What do we do?" Squall said, getting right to business.

            "Take it easy. There's plenty of time yet. We were hoping you'd be down today, but our operation isn't planned for later on. Here, let me introduce you. You already met Watts at the station. There's three guys in the drive room, but they're getting things ready, best not to disturb them yet. We're the only ones on the train. I guess it's just our princess then."

            "She's asleep sir." Watts informed him.

            "Ah, man!" Zone cursed irritably. "Squall, sorry, but could you go wake her up for us? She's just in the last room up those stairs"

            Squall couldn't believe it. Here they were, SeeDs, the ultimate mercenary force and they were being asked to go wake some girl up.

            "Were we hired to run errands? Well? Were we?" he demanded crossly.

            Zone backed off. He was in the presence of someone who knew how to fight far better than he did after all.

            "A-A-Are you angry?"

            Squall shook his head disbelievingly "We're not gophers. We're SeeDs, special forces. If you wanted errand runners, you could have got them at far less a price than us. This is the last time for this kind of thing."

            Zone seemed to collapse into the floor. "OwOwOuch. My stomach!" he moaned as he took out a bottle of pills.

            Squall gave up and headed towards the room.

            "Squall, way to go! You tell 'em! They can't treat us that way!" Selphie whispered in congratulations.

            Zell was waiting for him at the top of the stairs. "What do you reckon?" he raised an eyebrow. Squall shook his head and sighed. Zell voice his thoughts. "These guys don't seem to have it together."

            "Just wait downstairs. I'll go get this girl and then we'll do whatever plan it is they have up their sleeve." Squall told him. He found the room and went inside.

            Sure enough, there was a girl lying on the bed. As he walked in, she heard his footsteps and began to stir, then slowly woke up. She sat up and looked at him. Even though she was wearing a blue cardigan over black shorts and a black low-cut top instead of the cream dress, Squall recognised her instantly as the girl he'd danced with last night at the ball. It was clear that she recognised him too.

            "Hey… You're… You know, from the party last night." She was just as surprised as he was. "So, does that mean, you're a SeeD?"

            He nodded. "I'm Squall, the Squad Leader. There's two others with me."

            She leapt out of bed and wrapped her arms round him. "YESSS! SeeD is here!" she seemed ecstatic.

            "Take it easy!" Squall was a little taken aback.

            "It's just that I'm so happy!" she enthused. "I've been sending requests to Garden forever, but nothing… I'm so glad I spoke to Cid directly."

            Squall remembered her breaking off when he thought she'd seen someone. It fitted together now. "Oh… So you were looking for the headmaster at the party?"

            She shook her head and a shy smile spread across her face. "Not quite. You know Seifer?"

            "…Yeah." He couldn't sound enthusiastic here no matter how hard he tried.

            "Well, he's the one who introduced me to Cid." She carried on, seemingly oblivious. "Cid is such a nice man. I really didn't think SeeD would come to help out a measly little group like us."

            _Neither did I!_

            "But after explaining our situation to him, Cid gave the go ahead right away! Now that you guys are here, we'll be able to carry out all kinds of plans!"

            "We should join the others." Squall got back into business mode.

            "Ok, let's go." They started to walk, when another thought occurred to her. "Umm, Squall, is 'he' here?" she sounded hopeful and her eyes lit up.

            "He?"

            "Seifer!" she smiled again.

            _Thank God, no!_

            "No, he's not a SeeD." He put the matter simply.

            "Oh" she was both surprised and disappointed. But then another thought occurred to her. "Oh, yeah, my name's Rinoa by the way! Rinoa Heartilly. Very pleased to meet you Squall." She held out her hand, and Squall shook it. "SeeD members dance quite well, don't they."

            He didn't want to get into this. He shrugged. "Approach your target inconspicuously at a dance party… There may be missions requiring this kind of subtlety. It's expected of SeeDs to learn various skills."

            "Ohhh… So it's work related? Too bad." She smiled at him again. "Well, come on!"

            They headed back down to where the others were waiting.

            "This is Zell… And Selphie." Squall introduced Rinoa to his team-mates.

            "Hi everyone!" She waved at them. "This way!" she ushered them all into one of the rooms that led off from the hall for the strategy meeting.

            In the middle of the room was a table with a model railway on it. They all stood round it.

            "This is a full-scale operation!" Zone began the briefing. "Our resistance, 'The Forest Owls' will be known forever in the pages of Timber's independence." He spoke with pride. "Exciting, huh?" he flashed a look at the SeeDs who were yet to be impressed. Unperturbed, he carried on.

            "After what Rinoa told us, that Cid had authorised you guys to come out, we were hoping you'd be here today to carry out this plan. It was perfectly timed, because we got hold of some top-secret info from Galbadia."

            "I got the info, sir!" Watts cut in with pride. Zone ignored him.

            "There's a VIP coming from Galbadia to Timber."

            "Super V-I-P!!!" Watts butted in again. Squall and Zell thought he was appearing like an attention-seeking kid.

            "The guy's name is Vinzer Deling!"

            "Wait a minute… You don't mean…" Zell cut in this time. 

Zone nodded. "The president of Galbadia, and our arch enemy!"

            "Vinzer Deling is a scoundrel!! He's a dictator! Not a president! Not even popular in Galbadia sir!" Watts was almost jumping with rage.

            "Watts! Calm down!" Zone was starting to get a little irritated now. In the corner of the room Squall let out a sigh and Zell rolled his eyes. 

Rinoa decided it was time to take over. "President Deling is taking a private train from the Galbadian capital."

            Zone nodded. "Our plan is to…" he paused to let suspense build up.

            "…Blow it to smithereens with a rocket launcher?" Selphie offered.

            "Ahh… not quite…!" Zone backed off, a little shocked.

            "So get to the point! Tell us what to do!" Zell was getting extremely impatient now.

            "Shall we begin?" Rinoa offered. Zone pressed a switch and the model railway burst into life. Squall noticed there were two trains on the tracks. One with two carriages, one yellow, one blue. The other had 4 carriages, all green, except for one shabby red one, second from the back.

            "First, let's go over the model. This yellow car, is our base. We're riding in it right now. When we reach our destination, we'll pick up the dummy car." She pointed to the blue one. "We made it to look just like the president's car. Their train has four cars. There's the locomotive, the first escort, the red one is the 'President's Car'. Deling should be inside. The final one is the second escort." She ran through each of the cars. "Once we get onto this, the operation will begin. The goal is to kidnap the President by stealing his car with our base. We'll do this by switching our 'dummy' with their 'President's car'. We'll use the two switch points leading up to Timber to carry out this operation. There's seven steps to this procedure." She paused for breath.

            "First, we get on the roof of the '2nd escort' by jumping from our 'dummy car'."

            "The '2nd escort' is the one with sensors, sir" Watts put in.

            "Right, the second step is to make it across this car." Agreed Rinoa. "So to do this, we need to avoid the sensors. Take it away Watts."

            "There's a 'sound sensor' and a 'temperature sensor' sir. Any sound will trigger the sound sensor, so move across very quietly, sir. That's at the end closest to us. We'll have our CB system and we'll let you know if the guard is coming out to check it. The temperature sensor will go off if you stay still. So basically, once you're past the sound sensor, run sir!"

            "How do we know when we're past the sound sensor?" Zell wanted to know.

            "The range is equal to one window sir!" Watts informed him. "That's how to get past the sensors anyway."

            "Third step is to move across the roof of the president's car. Deling hates being surrounded by his guards and sensors, so I think we can work our way across this one without worrying too much." Rinoa continued.

            "Fourth step, once we're there, we uncouple the 'President's car, from the 'first escort'. We MUST complete this BEFORE the 1st switch point, if not…

            "…Game over, right?" Selphie guessed.

            "Right." Agreed Zone. "It's at this switch point, where our train will move into the gap, so we have to move fast. Rinoa will explain the uncoupling process later. But our moving in is the 5th step. After that, our train and there's will be linked and moving together."

            "Sixth Step," Rinoa continued, "We uncouple the '2nd escort' from the 'president's car'. The processes will be the same. And finally, 7th step, we escape with the president's car and the '2nd escort' rejoins the original train, but with the 'dummy' in place. Then, we return to our hideout and prepare to confront Deling."

            "We have about 5 minutes to do this" Zone informed them. "We ran a simulation, and it should all be perfectly possible in 3 minutes, especially for SeeDs, right?"

            "Of course! Too easy!" Selphie was ever the optimist. Squall wasn't so sure.

            "Now, about the uncoupling process…" Rinoa was about to tell them, but Selphie got in first.

            "Question! How can you uncouple cars from a moving train?"

            "Umm… We can't directly. We tamper with the system that manages the coupling." Zone told her. "If we temporarily disable the system, the cars will uncouple automatically. To disable them, we enter several codes. Our master of intelligence, Watts, has the codes to break the circuits."

            "I gave them to Rinoa, sir!"

            "Squall, the plan is, you enter the codes, which I'll relay to you, and Zell and Selphie will keep an eye on the guards." Rinoa explained.

            "Why don't I just take the sheet?" Squall wanted to know.

            "The input system is at the bottom of the train, because normally they'd be entered whilst the train is stationary. So you'll have to slide down using a cable. You'll need one hand to hold on and another to input the codes. Are you ok with that?"

            "…Yes." Well, it was his job to obey their commands.

            "Well, that concludes the briefing then. Any questions?" Zone opened up to the floor.

            "Ummm, well, the model's nice, but the president's car looks kinda shabby. Why is that?" Selphie asked.

            "Yeah, Rinoa made it, that's why, sir." Watts agreed.

            "We bought everything else at the gift store." Zone finished off.

            "Ohhh…" Zell felt like everything was explained. "I thought some kid made it. The paint job sucks too."

            _Yeah, it kinda does,_ Squall noticed

            "Ohh, shut up! I made it look like that on purpose!" Rinoa quite clearly hadn't. "It represents my hatred towards Deling!"

            The others grinned, not believing her.

            "Hatred? Yeah right!" Zell was laughing.

            "It's one of the ugliest things I've seen in my life. You must really hate him!" Selphie joined in. Zone had his hand over his mouth and his shoulder's were shaking. Even Squall was finding it hard to keep a straight face.

            "Are you guys finished? Enough about the model! Can we get on with it? We've only got a couple of hours to get ready." Rinoa was quite clearly annoyed.

            "I'll go call the guys waiting with the dummy car to see if it's all ready sir!" Watts left to make the call.


	10. The Timber Train

10. The Timber Train

            "OK, we're all set then, sir!" Watts informed them. "The boys got our dummy president holding a newspaper so no-one will see his face. He'll start to get angry with the guards as soon as anyone approaches him, so they won't dare look over the top of the paper. That should do the trick sir!"

            They were riding along with their dummy car now. In 5 minutes they'd be starting their mission.

            "OK, let's sort out the plan then." Rinoa clapped her hands. "The guys in the engine room will be driving, of course. Watts, you use one of the phones to let us know if a guard's checking his sensor, I'll have the other. If we hear the ring, we'll know. Zone, you use the controls to hook our train to theirs. Squall, Zell, Selphie, you three come with me. Is everyone ready?" They all nodded. "We'd better get going then. Good luck to you guys."

            "I know it's tough, but do your best, sir!" Watts encouraged them.

            The four of them left and climbed up on top of the dummy car. Squall had to admit, this was an ambitious plan and they seemed to have it all worked out, but he didn't think it was going to be as easy as they made it out to be. Jumping from one moving train to another for a start. Well, they were SeeDs, no-one said their job would be easy. They rounded a corner and there it was, the President's train. It was still a lot to hope that they wouldn't be spotted. Their train pulled up parallel to the other one, but still didn't leave much space. As the gap got short, Squall went for it and landed neatly on the 2nd Escort car.

            "I'll tell you when to jump!" he shouted. On his command, Selphie and Zell safely made the distance. "Rinoa, now!" he shouted. She hesitated, she wasn't a SeeD, and wasn't used to this kind of thing. "Rinoa! You have to trust me! When I shout, you must jump!"

            "OK!" She nodded. He waited, hoping they'd pull the train close enough again. They did.

            "NOW!" he shouted. Again she hesitated. "RINOA!!! NOW!!" He was getting desperate now, he knew they weren't far from the first switch point and if they hadn't got the car uncoupled by then, they were in real trouble. She went for it, just as the trains pulled apart and just missed the gap. Squall and Zell each caught one of her arms.

            "HELP ME!!" She screamed. Dangling from a moving train was not her idea of fun. All of a sudden, the phone crackled into life.

            "They're checking the sound sensor, sir!" Watts' voice came through.

            "Rinoa, I know you're scared, but you must stay silent!" Squall urged.

            They waited and waited for Watts to give the all clear. It seemed like forever and Squall felt like his arms would start dropping off. Finally, the phone crackled into life again.

            "Sir! It's all clear sir!" Squall and Zell hoisted Rinoa up.

            "There's still the sound sensor to get past. Move really quietly!" Squall told them.

            They all tiptoed across the roof of the carriage, when the phone rang again.

            "The temperature sensor, sir!"

            "RUN!" Squall commanded. They all legged it, though keeping their balance, they were still on a moving train, all the way across the two cars, where the 1st escort was.

            "Right, now we uncouple the two cars." Rinoa informed them. "Squall, You take this cable and go down to where the panel is, you can't miss it. Zell, Selphie, you let us know if you see a guard coming. If you do, shout us and Squall, climb back up."

            They all took their positions. Squall slid down the cable and easily located the panel.

            "Ready!" He shouted. Though he would be the first to admit, he didn't much like his situation here, hanging from a cable on a moving train. Nonetheless, Rinoa started reading them out, and he started punching them in. They'd got the first two codes entered, when he heard Zell call out.

            "Yo! You got a guard heading your way."

            Quickly, he scrambled back up the cable, not an easy task, and waited. Due to the curve of the train, they could see the shadow of the guard as he moved. The guard opened the window and looked out, down towards where Squall had been. Satisfied everything was ok, he left and went back to his station. Squall sighed as he shimmied back down the cable, entered the code, and climbed back up.

            Sure enough, the cars began to pull apart. The momentum kept it moving though, and sure enough, as they reached the switch point, the Forest Owls' train suddenly accelerated into the gap created, and a large hook-like contraption on the front grabbed hold of the link on the back of the president's car

            "All right! Now we just have to uncouple the President's car from the 2nd Escort, and we're away! Just remember, the sensors are on the 2nd Escort. Come on."

            They all headed back over the roof of the president's car to the 2nd Escort and Squall resumed his position dangling from the cable. He only had to go back up once when a guard came and he was done. They watched as the President's train, with their dummy in place headed off down the rails, whilst two of the Forest Owls altered the switch point so that they went away with the President's car.

            They went back into the base amidst a great many whoops and cheers!

            "Was that perfect, sir? You're the best sir!" Watts congratulated him.

            "Thank you, THANK YOU!" Rinoa hugged him again. "We knew we could get things going if SeeD came along!"

            "It's been great! This is the moment we've been waiting for. An encounter with Vinzer Deling!" Zone smiled.

            Squall wasn't so sure. It had all been far too easy for his liking.

"Time to being some serious negotiations, I think!" Rinoa got serious. "Who's going?"

"Well, you're our public face." Zone pointed out.

"Gathering information is my speciality, sir!" Watts backed off.

"Fine, I'll go." Rinoa agreed. "You three, come with me." She beckoned to the SeeDs.

They entered the President's car. Rinoa took point as the other three lingered behind to protect her just in case.

"President Deling!" Rinoa strode over to him. "I have some questions and demands for you. As long as you don't resist, you won't get hurt." She tried to sound confident, but it seemed to Squall she was a little overwhelmed.

"And if I do resist? What would you do, young lady?" he inquired dryly as he looked round at Rinoa, who backed off in surprise. Squall sensed something was wrong.

"What's going on?"

"Boo hoo… Too bad." Deling half sang these words in taunt. Now Squall knew what had happened. Of course it had all been too easy. He'd thought it was an ambitious plan for a faction this small who didn't really have it together and he'd been proved right.

"I'm not the president. I'm what they call a body double." The man spoke evenly to them and strode over to Rinoa. "All these rumours about the many resistance groups in Timber… You pass along a little false information and they fall for it… How pathetic… Seems like there are only amateurs around here."

"Amateurs…?" Rinoa didn't know whether to be hurt or angry.

Squall cursed Watts and his intelligence. THIS was why it had been so easy. It wasn't that the security had been lax because it wasn't that important, they were MEANT to try to do something to the president. A trap had been laid for the resistance factions, and they'd fallen into it. He put one hand on his gunblade.

The man's body started to shake, as if cramped.

"Ahh… I'm in pain from all this sitting… Young… LADY!" And now his voice was radically different. "Ahh… So what did you have in STORE for me had I resisted? Why doN'T you TELL ME. QUITE amusing for such AMAtuers. How DARE YOU insult the PresIDent?" He lurched over to Rinoa and grabbed her by the throat. Instinctively, Squall rushed over to top the creature, but the man just knocked him aside. Whatever this body double was, it clearly wasn't human. Zell and Selphie had sprung into gear by this point. Zell was still working by the assumption that it WAS human, which seemed to work. He dealt the man three blows to his head and then delivered his finishing blow, which sent the man sprawling. Only then, did he reveal his true form. His body seemed to convulse in on itself and he emerged as a huge skeletal like creature, that seemed to be more fluid, than solid. He spat at them, a huge cloud of smoke which seemed to blind them.

"Darkness. He's inflicted us with Darkness!" Zell realised.

Rinoa was scared now. "You're SeeDs! Use a GF on it!"

"What? Are you crazy? A GF inside a train carriage? It'd completely destroy it!" Squall knew they had to fight this beast using only their magic and weapon skill. 

Selphie cast Esuna, restorative spell on them, and their vision cleared as the light seemed to break up the thick black smoke obscuring their vision. Squall and Zell dived in for the attack. They each took a side so that it couldn't attack them both at once. They each started delivering blows. They were right in thinking the monster would have trouble with them if it couldn't attack them both. Selphie then realised something else. The monster was very skeletal and appeared to be in a form of decay, it was quite clearly an undead monster. Healing spells would hurt it. She cast cure on it and watched as it's body seemed to sag as the strength left it, making it feel weaker. Realising it was in trouble, it span it's body round, knocking Squall to the back of the carriage and Zell over towards Selphie, but all that meant was that it was caught in a pincer attack between the two. Squall stuck his gunblade in the monster's back and pulled his trigger. The blow opened up a gaping wound, but also sent Squall flying back.

Realising that being undead, Fire was effective as it aided the decay and destruction brought about by the undead status, Zell cast a Fire spell on the wound and watched as the tissue around started burning and decaying further. Selphie cast Cure on the flames, and the wound tore apart, almost ripping the creature in two. The Fire spread all across the wound, and inside the creature's body as well.

Rinoa watched, horrified as the beast became it's own funeral pyre. She'd been prepared for some sights in the battles that were coming, but this… It almost made her physically sick.

"Get out of the carriage, now!" Squall ordered. "Tell Zone to unhook it from the base car."

They all made their way back into their base.

Zone and Watts were confused.

"What's going on sir?"

"Never mind! Just unhook the President's car and do it now!" Squall yelled.

"But sir…"

"NOW!"

Shocked, Zone headed up to the control panel and pressed the button to uncouple the carriages. The rest watched in horror as the carriage, rocking across the track, fell off and rolled across the fields developing into a huge inferno carrying with it the dying screams of the beast.

Squall walked away from the window and sat down in despondence. They'd failed and fallen into a trap. Their first mission and it was turning out to be a disaster.


	11. A New Terror

11. A New Terror

            "Man, I can't believe the president was a fake." Zone was disappointed. He had so been hoping this would be a big step in their movement, but they were back in the meeting room now discussing what to do. They'd covered up the model railway. It seemed to almost taunt them for their failure and gullibility.

            "I can't believe we fell for it!" Rinoa felt so gullible. Now that she looked back on their plan to kidnap the president, it all seemed so far-fetched. Had she told their plan to anyone else, she realised, she would have thought it ridiculous. All of a sudden, Watts burst back into the room.

            "Info sir! New info!" He panted, out of breath.

            "And how do we trust your info?" asked Zell sourly. "The info you got before was just great!" He rolled his eyes.

            "No sir! It's for real! I found out the real reason why the president's here! They're going to the TV station sir. Security's real tight."

            "This isn't another trap for factions is it?" Squall was suspicious.

            "…The TV station? Why in Timber?" Rinoa also had her reservations about this new piece of news. "They can broadcast just as easily from Galbadia."

            "I don't know sir. This is just the info I found out."

            Selphie remembered something else. A piece of info the Forest Owls didn't have. "Do you think the Dollet Communication Tower has anything to do with this?"

            "What's that?" Zone was interested.

            "Dollet has a communications tower that can transmit and receive radio waves." Squall informed him. "It had been abandoned for a long time, but the Galbadians got it up and running again yesterday."

            He was a little less sceptical about Watts' info now. It seemed to fit together.

            "Oh, I get it!" Zone realised. "After the Sorceress War, 17 years ago, airwave transmissions couldn't work anymore for some reason. So they started using cable. But most international cables are out of commission. They've rotted, or monsters have eaten them. The only TV station left that can handle airwave broadcasts is Timber."

            "So what does that mean?" Rinoa wanted to know.

            "Well, they have to use Radio Waves for some reason. This way they can transmit images to regions without cable." Zone reasoned.

            "I know that! They must have something they want to say to a lot of people. Maybe the entire world. But what?"

            "Everybody!" Selphie shouted and got their attention. "Love." She started a little dance. "And Peace!"

            Everybody just looked at her.

            "This is Galbadia. Deling loves fighting wars." Zone snorted.

            "We fought off one of their invasions yesterday." Zell reminded her.

            "So what is it then?" Selphie looked a little downcast.

            No-one could figure it out.

            "Wouldn't it be wonderful if the first broadcast could be the declaration of Timber's independence." Dreamed Rinoa.

            "Hey! You've got something there!" Zone was fired up again.

            "Strategy meeting then!" Rinoa called. "Can you guys give us a minute?" She turned to the SeeDs, who watched in disbelief as the three of them walked into the corner and squatted down in a huddle.

            "They call that a strategy meeting?" Zell was dumbfounded.

            "Can't we go home now?" Selphie was bored. "What does it say in our contract Squall?"

            Squall didn't know, but he'd had enough already. This was becoming increasingly a Mickey Mouse operation and he hadn't joined SeeD to help out half-baked organisations like this. He walked over to Rinoa.

            "Squall, good timing, I think we've got a plan!"

            "Good, but before that, can I see your contract with the Garden?" Squall was looking for a get-out clause.

            "Sure." Rinoa took it out of her pocket and handed it to him.

            _They haven't even bothered filing something like this away?_

            "What's it say?" Zell was getting impatient.

            "'Balamb Garden' (hereafter referred to as 'Party A') acknowledges 'The Forest Owls' (hereafter referred to as 'Party B') as the hiring party. SeeD (hereafter referred to as 'Party C') shall be dispatched upon signing of this contract. Party C shall operate under the supervision… What is this?"

            "The hell does that mean?" Zell was equally confused. It seemed like another language.

            "Oh yeah, that's a bit confusing, so Cid gave me another one." Rinoa remembered and handed the new one over. "Cid is such a nice man!"

            _Doesn't this just get better and better?_

            "What's it say this time?" Selphie craned over his shoulder. Squall's face fell when he read it.

            _To the Forest Owls,_

_            This SeeD deployment will last until Timber achieves it's independence. Please make good use of each SeeD member._

_            I wish you the best with your objective. Please understand that this contract is an exception and no replacement of any SeeD members can be made._

            Balamb Garden Headmaster, Cid Kramer 

            There was no get-out clause. They had to stay in this pathetic contract until The Forest Owls got what they wanted, which at this rate would never happen.

            "Until Timber's independence!?" Zell echoed Squall's thoughts.

            "That is sooo vague!" Selphie was downcast.

            "Hey, you're paid professionals! No complaining." Rinoa told them. "So let's decide on the parties."

            "Gathering information is my speciality sir!" Watts chickened out again.

            _The hell it is_ thought Squall, darkly.

            "OwOwOuch, my stomach!" Zone reached for his pills again.

            "Fine! Just us four then." Rinoa was more than a tad annoyed. "Zone, don't take us all the way to Timber. After our attempt to kidnap the president, I imagine the station's going to be under a bit of security."

            "Right, ok. We'll be there in about half an hour. Make sure you're prepared." He left for the engine room.

            Squall checked his junctioning. He was starting to run a bit low on some magic. He should probably stock some more at some point, but he hadn't found any draw points around. Whilst idly looking round the room, his eyes focused on something else. On a clipboard were a lot of clippings from a magazine called "Anarchists Monthly". They were all about President Deling and obviously written by someone from Timber and therefore very biased.

            A lot of it was common knowledge. Deling had become president near to the end of the sorceress war. There was the bit about the D-District prison in the south Galbadian desert. Galbadia was the only country with long-range missiles other than Esthar. But most of it was about the invasion of Timber.

            "That man was taken away to the D-District prison, along with his family. Just for telling the truth. Isn't that just wrong?" Rinoa had seen him reading the articles.

            Squall shrugged. Politics was not his thing. But he did wonder, just what the President's speech was going to be about and why they wanted to say it to the world. He also wondered, had they stopped the communications tower being repaired yesterday, would all this be going on now?

            "Is that all you have to say? Well, I guess it doesn't really concern you."

            Before, he would have agreed. But if they were going to be working for Rinoa's group until they succeeded and this was about the enemy, then it was a matter of his.

            "Don't really know much about it." He confessed. Not wanting any more questions, he decided to pick up a magazine and read it. Rinoa left him alone. It was quite interesting actually. Reading it, he gathered a lot more information about Galbadia, which seemed to fill in a lot of blanks about their mission.

            "OK! We're in Timber!" Zone's voice broke through his thoughts. He'd lost track of time whilst reading the magazine.

            "Zone! I said to drop us off outside of Timber." Rinoa despaired.

            "You wouldn't get in. The town's under martial law whilst the president's here." Zone informed her.

            "Never mind that. How do we get to the TV station?" Squall wanted to know.

            "It's quite close if you take the train, sir." Watts told him. "But as Zone said, all the trains have stopped sir. But there must be someone in town who knows." He opened the door and they stepped out to the area of the station they'd first boarded the train. Watts followed them out.

            "Say! I remember know, sir! I think the TV station is located behind a building called Timber Maniacs."

            "The magazine company?" Zell had heard of it.

            "I think so, sir!"

            "That's great, we'll find out from there." Squall just wanted rid of Zone and Watts.

            "WAAAAAAATTTTTTS!! C'MON! There's Galbadian soldiers around!" Zone called urgently to him.

            "Lot's of guards patrolling the city now. Be careful sir!" Watts finished his piece, not noticing the train was already pulling away. "But you're all SeeDs, you'll be fine, right sir? Best of luck to you anyway."

            He turned round to see the train already heading off.

            "DON'T LEAVE ME SIIIIIIIIIIR!" he yelled as he ran after the train.

            Squall, Zell and Selphie all looked at each other. They were all thinking the same thing.

            "Come on, let's go." Rinoa wanted to get on with it.

            Squall had a thought. "Hide your weapons everyone. We don't want to draw needless attention to ourselves. I think they may be looking for us anyway." 

They all concealed their weapons as best they could. Zell had the easiest job; he just took his gauntlets off and put them in his pocket. Squall tucked his sheath and gunblade inside his trousers. Selphie had a more difficult job with her nun-chakus. The best she could do was to stuff them down her back. It left a bit of a bulge, but it wasn't noticeable unless someone was right behind her, she realised.

            "OK Squall, that's the best I can do!" she apologised.

"It'll have to do." Squall conceded. "Come on then. And just act natural. Don't look at any soldiers or arouse suspicion. Just act as if we're residents just strolling through town, like we were going to a café or something."

            They nodded and head off.

            "I think I know where Timber Maniacs is," volunteered Rinoa. "It's near a friend of mine's house. Let's try there first. It's this way."

            "What do we do if someone does attack us?" wondered Selphie.

            "I don't know. I don't want to kill anyone, because I think a dead soldier or two would be a bit of a sign. Zell, you know martial arts. Just try and knock them unconscious if it comes down to it. The rest of us, only use our weapons in an emergency."

            "Won't an unconscious soldier or two be a bit of a sign as well?"

            "Probably, but not as much as a dead one."

            "Do we have to get in any fights?" Rinoa didn't like where this was heading.

            "Hopefully not. So everyone act cool. Talking about fights is probably not the best idea." Squall snapped a bit here.

            Instead, they ended up walking in silence, which was possibly worse, Squall thought. Because of the incident on the train, the soldiers were all on high alert, knowing there was at least one active resistance group. Every time they passed a group, the soldiers seemed to be watching them. Even Squall, who normally remained cool and collected was getting paranoid. Whenever a soldier stared at him, he felt he was recognised and had to fight the instinct to put one hand on the hilt of his gunblade. Fighting these instincts was making him perspire and that added to his fears that someone sweating like that would look suspicious. He was very relieved when they got to the magazine offices without incident, but to his surprise, Rinoa went to the next house and knocked on the door.

            "Rinoa! Hi!" The woman greeted them. "What are you up to?"

            "We're heading to the TV station." Rinoa told her.

            "And you're walking?" The woman shook her head in disbelief.

            "We have no choice. The trains aren't running." Squall told her.

            "Right. So we were wondering if you knew a way to the station, without taking the train." Rinoa inquired.

            "Well, there was an alleyway behind the Blue Amphora pub down that way." The woman gestured down the street. "But I don't know how usable it is. The pub was built around the time they stopped broadcasting, so…"

            "We'll give that a go then. Thanks!" The crew headed off.

            The pub was quite dark inside, lit only by dingy neon-lighting.

"Hey, you kids, I'll need to see some ID." The bartender looked at them.

"It's ok, we're not drinking." Squall informed him.

"We heard there was an exit in here through to the TV station area." Rinoa approached him.

"Oh, yeah, it's over the back there." The bartender gestured with his thumb towards a door behind him with "EXIT" barely illuminated in red neon lights. "You guys going to that big broadcast they're doing today?"

"Yeah! What's it about?" Selphie jumped into the conversation, hoping to get a bit of information out of him.

"Beats me!" the man shrugged. "How come you're going if you don't even know?"

"Just curious. Well thanks!" Squall ushered them hurriedly towards the exit, before they gave away something stupid by mistake.

Outside, they found a wide alley, which looked as if it had once been some kind of main road, and, sure enough, it led up to the TV station. It was quite a large building, and it was obvious they'd come round the back way. Outside was a huge screen with a lot of static on it and a flight of stairs leading up to the top.

            "Whoa! An outdoor TV!" Zell was impressed.

            "So, what's the plan?" Squall was not in the mood for such frivolities.

            "What's that noise?" Rinoa made a face.

            "Static. It's broadcast over most frequencies, which is why radio broadcast is nearly impossible. They have to get round this before they can broadcast."

            "Well, if what Watts said was true, the president's inside now." Selphie tried to follow what was going on.

            "There'll be too many guards to be able to storm the place." Rinoa agreed. "So we've gotta come up with a new plan now."

            _I thought they'd figured this bit out in their strategy meeting!_ Squall was getting more annoyed by the second.

            "If the president leaves, do you reckon the guards will go too?" Rinoa was thinking.

            "I dunno. Didn't Watts find this out?" Squall replied. After all, wasn't he meant to be the head of their intelligence?

            "They probably will. Then we can do OUR broadcast. It might not be as influential, but it's better than nothing, right?" Rinoa continued, oblivious. "We don't stand a chance if we take 'em head on, right?"

            _Maybe._

            "Don't worry about us. We'll fight your enemies based on your decision. That's out duty." Squall sighed resignedly.

            "You tell us to go, we go." Zell agreed. "Even if it is a losing battle."

            "Just like that?" Rinoa raised an eyebrow. "Do you mind doing that? It's quite sad really. Just do whatever I tell you to? That's your duty?"

            The SeeDs all looked at each other. First she'd hired them, now she was putting them down for doing what she wanted.

            "Call it what you want." Squall sounded even colder that usual. "All we want is for you to achieve your goal using our help." _Then we can go home, at least._ "I don't believe that you can do it though." He realised he'd just spoken his thoughts out loud."

            "W-What?" Rinoa was stricken. "What do you mean by that?"

            _Guess I've started._ "How serious are you. Really?" Squall was holding nothing back now. "The three of you plop down on the floor to discuss strategy. You've brought us along here and you don't have a plan. You're heading this operation and yet you can't make a decision without our input. You say you want independence, yet you have no idea how to go about getting it. You fell straight into that trap the Galbadians set up."

            "B-But…" Rinoa looked like she was about to burst into tears.

            "I admire your determination." Selphie picked up the argument, a little more tactfully than Squall. "But he's right. You're being a bit naïve about how it's all going to pan out. You hired us to help you out, but now you're looking to us for the answers. How do you think we feel working like this?"

            "…Sorry" Zell and Selphie looked at each other. Squall was apologising?

            "I guess I got a little carried away there. But if these really are your goals, you need to have a much clearer picture of everything."

            "You know…" Rinoa was choking back tears now. "Maybe this was all a big mistake! That was why we hired you. To help us. We don't know how to do all these battles and everything. So we hired people that do! We thought you'd bring all your tactics with you, and things would all work out great! But, maybe you're right. We don't see the big picture. We're just kids playing some game to you aren't we?"

            She looked at them again, but this time her eyes were full of passion and determination. "Well it's not!" she spat. "We're serious! So serious it hurts! We're going to achieve our goal, by any means necessary! OK, so you want to know what the plan is? After Deling has left, we enter the studio. We find out how to set up the equipment and make our broadcast. We explain our situation and try and rally up everyone in Timber! And we tell the truth about Deling and Galbadia; show the world that their broadcast is full of lies! That's the plan. Zone, Watts and myself will make the broadcast. Your job is to defend against any guards that try to stop us! Those are my orders!"

            Squall was a little taken aback by Rinoa's sudden outburst. "Very well. We stand by your orders." He didn't show it though. 

Zell, however was thinking about something else Rinoa had said. "Um, Rinoa. What IS Deling's speech about?"

            "Heey! It should be starting soon if their inside. We can watch it on this screen!" Selphie was almost jumping in excitement.

            "OK. When they're finished, we give it an hour before we head in. Meanwhile we wait!" Rinoa was trying to look more determined and confident than she felt.

            They waited in silence. Finally, after about 5 minutes, the screen started to show some activity.

            "Are they starting?" Selphie leaned forwards in anticipation. The static cleared and the screen showed a conference style desk, but with a very regal air. There was a blonde, be-suited man standing there. He looked a little nervous. He also had no idea he was on air yet.

            "T-Testing…1…2…T-Testing. Are we ok?" He looked around, and someone obviously nodded to him. "O-Oh, P-People of the world! Can you see me? Can you hear me?" He was taken in by the moment and seemed overcome. He tried to compose himself though. "Oh, this is incredible! Ladies and Gentlemen, this is not a recording, this is an actual broadcast, over the air! It's been 17 years since a live broadcast has been possible!" He cleared his throat. Pompous mood music came from the speakers. "We would like to present to you today a message from the president of Galbadia, Vinzer Deling! Ladies and Gentlemen! President Deling!"

            He moved out the way for Deling to take his space in front of the microphones. Deling possessed all the calm and collectiveness his announcer had not.

            "Greetings. I am Vinzer Deling, lifelong president of Galbadia. Today, I stand before you to make the following proposition." He paused for suspense. "We, the people of this world, have the power to end all wars!"

            "See! See! It's a peace proposal!" Selphie cut in. The others just looked at her.

            "Unfortunately, there are some trifling matters standing between Galbadia and other nations, which we intend to resolve." Deling continued. There was a sound of something breaking in the background. Deling sharply looked towards it and continued.

            "I plan to convene with other nation's leaders immediately to resolve these problems. At this time, allow me to introduce the ambassador who will be my representative for the conferences."

            "Man, all this just to introduce an ambassador?" Zell couldn't believe it.

            There was another smash in the background. Deling panicked a little.

            "The ambassador is the Sorceress…"

            This time there was a scream and the body of a Galbadian soldier flew across the screen. Another soldier ran in front of Deling to protect him. At that moment a figure ran up and tossed him aside. He then grabbed Deling from behind and held a gunblade to his throat. The four outside recognised this figure instantly.

            "SEIFER!!???" They all gasped in unison.

            To add to their shock, Quistis then appeared on screen. A guard ran up to confront her.

            "Instructor Trepe?" Squall breathed in astonishment.

            "What's going on?" Selphie was baffled.

            "Stay back!" Quistis was urging the guards. "You're only going to provoke him."

            "Squall! What do we do?" Zell tugged at his sleeve. 

Squall brushed him off. "Nothing. It's not our business. We're here to assist the Owls."

            Zell and Selphie turned to Rinoa.

            "W-What? Me? I don't know! Should we help him?" She turned to Squall, her eyes begging him to say yes.

            "It's your decision." Squall couldn't care less. Let Seifer be an idiot for all he cared. 

Quistis then turned to the camera. "Timber Team. Are you watching? Get over here right now! You HAVE permission. I NEED your help!"

            "Let's go!" Rinoa ordered.

            They ran up the stairs and knocked the nearest door down. They found the studio and surveyed the scene. All the camera crew and guards had fled. The only people left were Quistis, Seifer and Deling. Seifer had retreated to a corner, but still had his gunblade to Deling's throat.

            "We need to restrain him!" Quistis told them.

            Squall strode over to his rival. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

            "It's obvious ain't it? I'm here to help!" He looked at Rinoa. "What are you planning on doing with this guy?"

            Rinoa didn't answer. She was scared now. This was all being broadcast on the air. She'd wanted the Owls to be famous and to make a mark, but she never expected anything like this.

            "You're here to help Rinoa?" Squall inquired.

            "I get it!" Zell cut in. "You're Rinoa's…"

            "SHUT YOUR MOUTH YOU DAMN CHICKEN!!!" Seifer flashed a look at him. Don't let that little idiot get us trouble, he begged silently.

"He broke out of the disciplinary room, injuring many in the process." Quistis could see the group wanted an explanation.

"You… stupid, IDIOT!" Zell was shaking with frustration. Just what went through that guy's head? He was holding a blade to the President of the second-most powerful nation in the world. On live TV, all over the world! Only Esthar was stronger, but they maintained total silence to the outside world, and many were beginning to forget they existed.

"Zell, please." Squall was desperately trying to keep the peace. The last thing they needed was these two bickering until one of them got carried away.

"Instructor, just take this idiot back to Garden." Zell sighed.

"Shut up!"

"NO!" Squall and Seifer shouted in unison. 

Deling now laughed. "I see… You're all from Garden."

Zell, realising the potency of his mistake put his hand over his mouth and wished he could vanish.

Deling finally felt calm amongst this madness. "You can release me now." He said with an air of smugness. "The entire world is watching." He gestured to the cameras. "If anything happens to me, the entire Galbadian military will crush Garden."

            "Nice going you stupid Chicken-wuss!" Seifer's eyes burned pure hatred towards Zell. "You and your big mouth!"

 NOW he was in trouble. The entire world was watching him, and now they knew where to find him. If he released Deling, the Galbadians would enter the room and attack them all. But if he held onto his hostage, Garden would be destroyed. He needed someone to help.  He turned to the person he had the most faith in.

"Squall, take care of this mess."

The first thing, he thought, was to get out the way of the cameras. He dragged Deling into the next room, and the others all followed. All of a sudden, the lights dimmed and the group all felt a malefic presence.

"Poor, poor boy…" A shiver ran down their spines as the voice spoke. A figure stepped out from behind the long, black curtain at the end of the room. She was wearing a long, black dress, which swept the floor. A red visor covered her entire face. Her hair was all gathered up and held in place by magnificent and ornate jewellery. Her very presence made him want to run, yet he felt frozen to the spot. 

_The Sorceress that Deling spoke of…_ Squall realised.

She turned and looked at Seifer.

"Stay away from me!" Seifer's hands shook. He was genuinely scared now. He had never felt so afraid before, such was the air of terror the Sorceress could muster.

"Such a confused little boy." The Sorceress carried on in hypnotic tones. "Are you going to step forward? Retreat? You have to decide." Even though her face was covered, her gaze seemed to pierce him. His heartbeat was nearly audible to the entire room.

"Stay back!" Seifer was almost crying in fear now. Squall reached for his gunblade. The Sorceress saw this and her body seemed to glow. The next thing they knew, Squall, Zell, Selphie, Quistis and Rinoa found their bodies going cold. Squall tried to open his mouth to order an attack, but found that his body was paralysed. He could almost feel her stare burning into his skull.

Having got them where she wanted them, the Sorceress turned her attention away and walked towards Seifer.

"The boy in you is telling you to come. The adult is telling you to back off."

Now she spoke his thoughts. "You can't make up your mind. You want help, don't you? You want to be saved from this predicament."

Seifer stared ahead in stupefied silence. He gulped. "Shut up!" he begged, his body trembling.

She strode right over to him and spoke more softly.

"Don't be ashamed to ask for help. You're only a little boy."

Damn straight, thought Zell. Had he not been frozen under spell and terror, he would have been finding this quite amusing. But despite his terror, Seifer's nerve had clearly been touched.

"I'm not… Stop calling me a boy!" All his usual arrogance was gone.

"You don't want to be a boy anymore?"

Squall then realised the Sorceress had her power over him. Seifer had lost.

"I am not a boy!" Seifer was trying to shout, but terror still pinned him numb.

"Then follow me. To a place of no return. Bid farewell to your childhood."

Seifer's grip loosened a bit. Deling seized the opportunity and ran away as fast as he could. The Sorceress started walking away. Seifer looked towards the exit where Deling had gone and realised he would be calling for backup. It took him only a second to realise that to stay was suicide and followed the Sorceress back behind the curtain. The others watched in horror as the pair walked behind the curtain and out of their vision. The lights returned and the air seemed to clear. Warmth returned to their bodies and they found they could move again.

Rinoa walked up to the curtain.

"Seifer?" she breathed. She gripped the curtain and threw it aside. Behind it was a bare wall. Of Seifer and the Sorceress, there was not sign.


	12. Fugitives

12. Fugitives

"Where's Seifer?" Rinoa turned back to the others.

"I don't know." It was all Squall could say.

"…He'll be ok, right?" Rinoa's eyes pleaded with Squall to say yes again. When Squall did not respond, she ran out of the room.

"Wait!" Quistis called after her and followed.

They caught up with the two of them in the next room. Rinoa was choking back tears again.

"Yo, Squall. What do we do now?" Zell spoke softly.

Once again, Squall didn't respond. He was thinking. He remembered Deling saying the Sorceress was his representative. Therefore, she was on Galbadia's side and had clearly, therefore, captured Seifer by putting him under her spell. They'd all been powerless to stop her.

"I think." He said slowly, but urgently, "We had better NOT stay here. The Sorceress captured Seifer easily. I don't want to wait for her to come back. Even if she doesn't, Deling will have called for reinforcements by now. Forget Seifer, we've got to worry about ourselves now."

"But we can't leave him!" Rinoa begged.

"Rinoa, he's gone. They know we're from Garden…" Zell broke off. He was terrified, thinking what Deling would do to Garden, and it'd be all his fault. But he carried on. "They also know then, that we're on a mission, and that a resistance group tried to kidnap the president. They'll be looking for you."

"If that Sorceress comes back, we'll be powerless! You say what she did to us back there! We'd be held nicely in place for the Galbadians to come and get us, IF she didn't just capture us herself! Rinoa, we MUST go." Squall was getting desperate.

"But where?" Rinoa was despairing now.

"Out of here, definitely. Getting out of Timber probably wouldn't be a bad idea either."

"Out of Timber! But…"

At that moment, Rinoa's phone burst into life. "Rinoa? It's Zone!" came the voice. "They found our base, it's completely destroyed. We managed to get out, but they know now from what they've seen that it was us involved with the kidnapping, and from the TV reports, they've put two and two together."

They all watched Rinoa's face as she took in what she was hearing.

"Zone, come over to us, we're at the TV station, and…"

"Rinoa!" Zone's voice was urgent. "Did you not hear me? They know it's you at the TV station, and they're sending a load of soldiers over there to get you. Get out of there, RIGHT NOW!"

Squall grabbed the phone and turned it off. "You heard him!" He took control. "Rinoa, I know it sounds harsh, but you've got to forget about Seifer. We must go. NOW!"

Rinoa nodded. "Get me somewhere safe!" she pleaded.

Squall nodded. "Guys. Listen up. This time we are fighting for our lives. Do not hold back on the soldiers this time. If you have to kill, kill."

The SeeDs all nodded.

"But how do we get out? Front or Back entrance?" Selphie wondered. Squall considered this. He spoke out loud. "The front entrance is suicide. They can get all sorts of reinforcements in that way. But they know we came in through the back way, so…"

"But we HAVE to leave that way. You're right. We can't leave through the front." Zell was panicking.

"If we can get through the back, there's a lot of places we can hide, people who support us." Rinoa volunteered. Squall had an idea.

"A decoy. Get them to gather their forces at the front."

"How do we do that though?" Zell inquired.

"Right. They know Rinoa's group are responsible for the attempted kidnapping of Deling. Quistis was seen on the TV, and they know some SeeDs are here. Well, Quistis and I can be the SeeDs, and we'll try and take Rinoa out the front; draw the guards away from the back. Zell, Selphie, you two hide and take out the guards who come up behind us. Make sure our getaway to the back is clear. Be as discrete as possible." Squall spoke his plan. "We must move now. The sooner we make it look like we're leaving through the front the better."

He drew his gunblade and Quistis got her whip ready. Squall found two walkie-talkies left by the camera crew. He handed one to Zell. "You take this. Make sure you let me know what's going on."

"What if it's traced?" Selphie mused.

"It's a risk we'll have to take." Conceded Squall. "Move out."

The three of them headed into the main corridor, making sure the cameras spotted them leaving that way. Zell and Selphie went round the back to avoid detection. At the main flight of stairs, the encountered their first attack. Two soldiers were heading up to greet them. They were quickly felled by Squall, who threw their bodies over the railings onto the floor of the entrance hall.

"Just to get their attention." He explained to them. They cautiously headed down two flights of stairs, when they heard the loudspeakers.

"**SEEDS AND RESISTANCE MEMBERS! YOU ARE UNDER ARREST. COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP! I REPEAT. SEEDS AND RESISTANCE MEMBERS! YOU ARE UNDER ARREST. COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP. WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED.**"

"We've got to get them to come in and draw their forces round here." Squall told Quistis. "Take the elevator down and summon Shiva the instant the doors open. That should draw their attention. I'll give them something else to worry about."

"What about me?" Rinoa asked.

"Come with me. It'll be safer. Instructor, you have the most dangerous job here…"

"I'll be ok." She reassured him and head into the lift.

Squall broke down the nearest door. It was pitch black inside. There was one window at the end, with the blinds drawn over it. _Perfect!_ Squall opened the blinds and surveyed the scene beneath him.

There were five RVs of various types, two armoured cars and the other three were tanks of some descriptions in a semi-circle round the entrance. Galbadian soldiers were entering the building, with cover from fellow soldiers crouched on top of and behind the RVs. He began to concentrate. A wave of Ice came crashing through the door, obliterating it and sending the unfortunate soldiers flying out. Good, Quistis had taken care of her part. He unleashed his own attack. The screams that had taken place when the soldiers flew out increased ten-fold as the soldiers saw the sight of Ifrit rising up behind the station, perched on his usual molten rock. He hurled the boulder towards the middle of the semi circle, obliterating the RVs, and sending soldiers flying everywhere.

Rinoa watched the scene in horror. Squall smiled. That would get their attention. He just hoped the Sorceress wouldn't make a return.

"Come on," he beckoned to Rinoa and led her out the room.

Zell and Selphie were in action now. They'd been watching the back door and had seen ten soldiers enter it. Selphie had gone out the back to make sure there were no more, whilst Zell was stalking the others. After five minutes, one of them issued a comment on his phone.

"Commander? It's all clear this way. There's just the three and they're all heading your way." He waited for his commander's response and issued a command to his men.

"OK, split into 5 groups of 2. Spread out and find 'em. Move out."

Perfect! He followed two of them as quietly as he could down the corridors. When he was confident they were out of earshot of the rest, he made his move. One went into a room to check, whilst the other covered him outside. Zell grabbed this one in a headlock and knocked him out. He stood with his back against the wall and waited for the other to emerge. The guard started when he saw his friend unconscious on the floor. He knelt over him to check he was ok, and fell foul of Zell's martial arts knowledge again. Zell threw the two bodies into the room and shut the door. He then radioed Squall.

"Squall? S'up dude, it's me. Listen, you got 8 soldiers roaming around inside, all in groups of two. Selphie's guarding the exit, but I don't think there's anymore coming in."

This was exactly what Squall needed to hear. The wreckage outside was gathering more reinforcements and Quistis had safely come back up in the elevator. They were retracing their steps, when they wandered into another pair of guards. The guards started with surprise and reached for their weapons. Squall already had his drawn, however and brought his gunblade across the first man's chest in a neat arc before he could even lay his hand on the handle of his own weapon. Quistis was just as quick with her whip and with one crack of it, the second man's skull had been smashed open. Once again, Squall hurled their bodies into the lobby. They then found their way back to the broadcasting room, where Selphie was waiting for them. The charred remains of two soldiers were lying in the next room.

"Fire magic." Selphie explained. 

Shortly enough, Zell reappeared. "They're gathering all their forces at the front." He told them. "They think it's just you three and you're trying to make a break for it. The plan's worked Squall!"

Squall smiled. The Galbadians were fooled and by the time they realised their mistake, the crew were safely back on the streets of Timber.

"I still don't get it!" Selphie was puzzled.

They were hiding out in the house they were at earlier, the house of Rinoa's friend, who was currently downstairs fobbing off Galbadian Soldiers. Turned out she was the leader of a resistance group called the 'Forest Fox'. Apparently, just about everyone in Timber was in a resistance faction, but Rinoa's was about the only one currently active.

The thought occurred to Zell, that if all the small factions merged into one big faction, maybe they could actually get something done around here.

"What did Seifer come here for?" Selphie turned to Rinoa.

"I think… he came to help us." Rinoa spoke the obvious. "I talked to him about it a lot."

"But why?" Squall and Zell tuned in now. This was the bit they were interested in.

"Please don't think too badly of him." Rinoa begged.

_I just think he's an idiot_, Squall thought. Truth was, because of his recklessness, Squall thought he'd had trouble coming to him for a long time. But this… captured by a country after holding a blade to their President's throat…

"He was so angry when he found out it was just you 3 dispatched to Timber." Quistis told them what she knew. "'What!? They might end up fightin' the whole Galbadian force.'" She did quite a decent impression of him.

"We nearly did. Thanks to him." Squall said darkly. He was getting fed up of Seifer getting him in trouble. Zell said nothing however. Normally he would have fired out a few comments of his own here, but he was just slumped in the corner in silence. 

Quistis carried on. "'And all you've dispatched are 3 rookie SeeD members? Dammit, I'm going to Timber!' I never thought he would be serious about it.

"He's always serious. You should know that by now." Squall retorted

They all sat in silence for a while.

"What's going to happen to him?" Rinoa broke the silence.

"He may already be dead." Squall spoke the cold truth.

"How can you be so casual? I feel… sorry for him." Rinoa was hurt.

"Ha! Sorry for him? Boy would he hate to hear that!" It seemed that even in the most desperate of times, Selphie never lost her high spirits. Even Squall smiled, in spite of himself.

"What's so funny!? You're terrible." Rinoa glared.

"Why do you think he may be dead though?" Selphie wanted to know.

"The president of Galbadia and the sorceress joined forces. Seifer attacked the president. He held a blade to his throat. Then, the Sorceress caught him. How do you think the Galbadian government would react to an attack on their president? What do you think they'd have done to us, had they caught us?"

"Even so! I still hope he's alive!" Rinoa couldn't believe Squall could be this cold.

"Reality isn't always kind." Squall turned his back. He knew this. The day he stood out in the rain all day, hoping that his sister would return, the last member of his family. And she never did. He remembered crying in his room, realising the truth that he would never see her again. He'd never known hurt like it and he never wanted to again.

In a rare instance, he spoke his feelings. "As long as you don't get your hopes up, you can take anything. You feel less pain if you expect it. Hoping against hope only brings pain when you get disappointed."

Rinoa could see the sense in it. She could also read his face and realised, he must have undergone some terrible pain. The room was quiet. In one statement, Squall had revealed a lot more about himself. Rinoa pouted.

"You're mean." She shook her head.

"…Sorry. I just tell it like it is." That couldn't be denied. Squall only ever spoke the truth. It may not be what people wanted it to be and Squall's outlook was fairly grim on the events that had just happened. But there was a high probability he was right. There was another silence.

Rinoa's friend entered the room. "The Galbadians are withdrawing. Only the soldiers normally stationed will stick around. I think they want to get Deling out of here before anything else happens. If you want to leave Timber, now's your chance. The last few trains are leaving, then all trains are being stopped."

The group all headed downstairs.

"But where do we go?" Rinoa was still wondering.

"Getting out of here is only the first step." Quistis said.

"What do you mean?" Squall asked.

"Garden Code, Article 8, Line 7." Quistis prompted.

Squall racked his brains. _Oh yeah…_

"Right. We may not be able to get back to Balamb, our assigned Garden. So we head for the nearest one."

"Very good." Quistis congratulated. "From here, that would be Galbadia Garden."

"Wait a minute… Galbadia…" Rinoa started to panic.

"Garden is neutral territory." Squall reassured her. "It's not owned by the government."

"If we can get on a train to Dollet, we can get off at East Academy station, and then it's only an hour's walk from there." Quistis told them.

"There's still a train for Dollet." Rinoa's friend informed them.

"Right. That's the plan then." Squall told them.

They left and went back to the station. Here, they were approached by an old man, wearing a flat cap that shielded his face.

"Looking to get out of Timber?" he hissed.

"What's it to you?" Squall was suspicious.

"Calm down. It's me!" Zone hissed. "The only train left is to Dollet. I've bought the last 5 tickets, so we can get out of here. One for Rinoa." He handed her the ticket. "Three for the SeeDs. Squall, you take them." He handed them over. "And the last one is for me…" He stopped when he saw Quistis. He recognised her from the TV and knew she was helping them. "Go on. Take it." He handed her the ticket.

"I can't take that, it's yours." Quistis tried to refuse.

"Look. They saw you on TV. No-one saw me. I'll be ok. You've got to get out of here."

"…OK" Quistis accepted the ticket. "Thank you."

"OwOwOuch, my stomach." Zone moaned again. "Just get going, before the train leaves!"

"Zone… We're going to see each other again aren't we?" Rinoa begged. "We're going to liberate Timber together, right?"

"I know, I know. We'll make it." Zone forced a smile at her. "Just go. And Squall." He tagged him as the others headed for the train. "Take care of Rinoa. Make sure nothing happens to her. Promise."

"I promise." Squall assured him.

He entered the station and boarded the train with the others.

"We'll…" Squall began.

"OPEN, OPEN, OPEN!" Selphie jumped at the door to the carriage.

"…Make it." Squall finished.

"Please?" Selphie turned to Squall. He hesitated.

"Open up!" Selphie demanded.

_Better let her have her way_, Squall thought and swiped the card to let her in.

"Tee-hee. Thanks." She disappeared.

"Weren't you saying something?" Rinoa prompted.

"It's nothing important, but… Well, we made it" Squall finally relaxed. The Galbadians had stopped the trains, presumably to keep them in, so they could find them. But they'd got on the train, because the Galbadians thought they weren't on it because the tickets were sold out. And that was because…

"We have to thank Zone." Quistis realised as well. 

Rinoa chuckled. "He's into naughty magazines." She told her.

"Thanks. I'll remember that." Quistis pulled a face.

It only took them 5 minutes to reach East Academy where they disembarked and headed to Galbadia Garden. They walked down the valley over a river and into a forest that led between the mountains.

"It's just through this forest and down into the plains." Quistis informed them.

"Hey, I was just thinking. Do you reckon we'll find out what happened when we get there?" Selphie wondered. "They won't be staking out Garden looking for SeeDs will they?"

"Whatever happens, happens. Let's get going." Zell snapped. Squall realised it was the first time Zell had spoken since they'd left the TV station.

"What's wrong, Zell?" Selphie was puzzled.

"I-I'm worried about Balamb Garden. If anything happens, it's my fault. I was the one who said we were all from Garden" he moaned. He looked at Squall. "You think the president will retaliate on Garden?"

"Maybe." Squall shrugged.

"B-But we have a whole bunch of SeeDs at Garden! They won't lose, will they?" He grabbed Squall in desperation.

"Depends how strong the army is." Squall shrugged him off.

"Oh, you're just a great leader, aren't you?" Rinoa stormed over to him. "Do you actually have fun acting so callous towards your comrades?"

"I'm just telling the truth." Squall told her.

"Zell wants your support. Any kind of encouragement will make… Don't you ever worry about the well-being of your comrades.?"

He turned away. He didn't believe in relying on others.

"Don't you understand?" She put her hand on his shoulder. "Are you even listening?" she snapped, crossly, then moved back in surprise as Squall's body buckled and he collapsed. She turned round to see Quistis was also lying on the floor. There was a thump as Selphie also hit the floor.

"The Sorceress?" Rinoa started in terror.

Zell shook his head as he looked over Quistis's slumped body. "I think… they went to the 'dream world'."


	13. Fugitives Part 2

13. Fugitives (part 2)

            "Kiros, this IS the right place, isn't it?" Ward turned to his comrade.

            "Positive." He nodded.

            "I don't wanna be patrolling the wrong place, like last time." Ward shook his head.

            At that moment, Laguna returned from his scouting trip. "Ahh, sorry… This ain't the place." He scratched his head, feeling awkward.

            "Look, it matches the map. This is the right place!" Kiros knew how to read a map.

            "Yeah, well… Um… I kinda brought the wrong map." Laguna admitted.

            "So we're lost again?" Ward finished his sentence.

            "I've got a bad feeling about this place." Laguna shuddered.

            The scenery was creepy enough. They'd been sent to patrol the ruins of the Centra continent. They'd found ruins alright, but they weren't what they were looking for. There were a few broken machines around, but Laguna had this nagging feeling someone was watching them.

            "Come on. Let's go." He shook his head.

            They head down the valley and round the corner, to find an even more bizarre sight. The path led to a metal walkway, which, in turn led into a huge machine, the inside of which seemed to glow. There was a conveyer belt bringing up huge piles of rocks from underneath them.

            "What… is… THIS?" Laguna breathed. This machine stretched so high above them, and seemed to be buried in the ground as well.

            "Who knows?" Kiros shrugged. "But it sure is strange."

            "Speaking of strange…" Ward began. "Why are you running around so strange?"

            "Hey! I'm just being cautious!" Laguna defended himself. "That's the basic rule of thu…"

            He was interrupted by the sound of something approaching them. It looked like a robot. It was clad from head to toe in metallic, shiny armour, with two bug-like eyes. Seconds later, it was joined by another one. Laguna recognised them instantly.

            "Esthar soldiers!" He breathed. "Looks like we've got company." He drew his gun. They WERE Galbadian soldiers after all, and fighting a war with Esthar. He shot it down in one.

            "Aaack!" Something grabbed him from behind. He turned to see that they'd all been grabbed from behind by more Esthar soldiers.

"Galbadians!" One of the men snarled. "What are you doing around here? This machine belongs to Esthar!"

Laguna and Kiros were powerless, but the soldiers may as well have been flies to the size of Ward.

            He simply bent over and threw the soldier over his back and onto the ground in front of him. He picked up his own weapon, a harpoon-like spear and sunk it into the chest of the man. The other two released Kiros and Laguna and attacked Ward. No sooner had Kiros been released, he pulled out a knife and jammed it in between two of the plates of armour in the man's leg, forcing him to fall to the floor. Laguna simply shot the other one.

            "Wasn't our mission just to patrol?" Kiros sighed.

            "Why does it have to turn out like this?" Ward agreed.

            "Seriously… Esthar soldiers? I wasn't expecting this at all? What are they doing here in Centra?" Laguna was confused.

            "I think they were wondering the same about us." Mused Kiros.

            "I think there's more coming." Ward grimaced.

            "I think we'd better leave." Laguna opted not to be the warrior.

            "But which way? The soldiers came from the way we came. So we can either retrace our steps and run into more of them, or go in there…" Kiros indicated the machine. He didn't sound particularly happy about either option.

            "I think they're coming from behind, so…" Laguna looked into the machine.

            "Come on then." Ward sighed.

            They headed inside and gaped at what they saw. Inside was a huge crystal, extending up and down as far as they could see. The machine seemed to be built around it.

            "This is really creepy. What do Esthar want with this?" Laguna didn't much like the look of it. There was a fork in the path. Laguna opted to take the left route, for no particular reason. Inside, they found a ladder heading down into the crystal. The machine was obviously built into it as well. They descended down it, onto the crystal floor, and cautiously made their way along, keeping an eye out for any Esthar soldiers that may be on patrol. It was quite beautiful in some respects, but there was definitely a sense of foreboding about the place. They walked along what appeared to be three trapdoors set into the crystal. Laguna noticed the middle one squeak as he walked across it.

            "Hey. The leaver on the hatch is loose…" He pondered. "I know! If we use this! Some stubborn Esthar soldier can't chase us!"

            "Laguna, what are you up to?" Kiros eyed him.

            "Somethin' stupid, I bet." Ward looked grim.

            "You guys, you're gonna regret sayin' that." Laguna grinned. "They say, one who mocks a genius will cry in the end!"

            "So who's the genius?" Ward grinned.

            "Ergh! Just shut up!" Laguna was annoyed. He started explaining his plan. "ANYWAY! The lever for this hatch is broken. So if we loosen it a bit more…"

            "We won't be able to go back." Ward pointed out.

            "But they can't chase us. There MUST be another way out somewhere." Laguna tampered with the switch until he heard something click into place. Satisfied, he got back up and beckoned to the others to carry on.

            They head on again. The tunnel seemed endless. Kiros was beginning to regret even entering this place. But they heard a door falling and the scream of a soldier behind them. Laguna's plan had worked. Now they just had to hope he was right about there being another exit. They came across another fork in the path. Once again, Laguna opted for left.

            "It worked last time." He explained.

            This time, it led into another crystal like area, but now with no signs of machinery about.

            "Laguna, I don't like this." Kiros was worried. "We're getting further and further into this cave, and there doesn't seem to be any way out."

            But Laguna had noticed something else. There WAS something lying around.

            "The heck's this?" He looked at it. "A blue switch, a red switch and two fuses?"

            Kiros observed it. "It's a detonator. But for what?"

            It was then that they noticed a huge boulder next to them. And another one further down the way they'd come.

            "I get it! One fuse for each boulder!" Laguna's brain snapped into action.

            "Laguna! Are you crazy? You don't know how powerful that'll be!" But Ward knew it was useless. Once an idea had gotten into Laguna's head…

            "Look, the detonator's right here. As long as we stay behind it, we'll be fine." Laguna was confident as ever. He pressed the red switch. The furthest boulder started moving and rolled down a hole. The screams of a few more Esthar soldiers confirmed that Laguna had done something else right. Happy that everything was going right, he pressed the blue switch as well. This set the nearest boulder rolling away. They didn't hear anything this time, and Laguna was a tad disappointed.

            "Ah, well. I think we've covered out tracks a bit. Come on."

            They continued through the labyrinth, until they saw what they were hoping for. Daylight. They headed up a flight of stairs and their hope turned to despair. They were outside again, but stuck on the top of a cliff. To make matters worse, they heard Esthar soldiers coming up behind them.

            "Don't tell me…" Laguna groaned.

            "Of all the worst possible…" Kiros muttered.

            "Predicaments?" Ward finished the sentence. They drew their weapons and prepared to fight. They knew now, they would have to fight their way back inside against the Esthar troops approaching AND the traps Laguna had set.

            Presently enough, two soldiers arrived. Laguna opened fire with his gun, but these soldiers were different. Their armour was painted black, and patently bullet-proof. The first one ran at them, his pick-axe like sword raised. Ward intercepted him with his massive build and attacked him with his spear. He found a gap in between the armour plates and shoved it in. This time it was in the shoulder. The man fell to the ground in agony, so the group turned to the second man. Kiros tried to use the same tactic Ward had, but the man was ready for him and delivered a punishing blow to his head, knocking Kiros to the ground, barely conscious. Ward came behind him and grabbed his arms. In the ensuing struggle, the man's helmet came off. With his head exposed, he stood no chance as Laguna reloaded his gun. It was over in seconds. They rushed over to help Kiros and in doing so, failed to notice the first soldier struggling to his feet. Without warning, he got his revenge on Ward as he came up behind him and sunk one end of his blade just under Ward's throat, who's scream became almost inaudible as his vocal chords started to sever. Laguna pointed his gun into the wound Ward's spear had left and opened fire until all his ammunition was spent. Then he turned back to his comrades. He knew they couldn't get back through the site alive now. But he wasn't going to leave them to die. He tried to raise their spirits.

            "There's a boat down below, in the ocean. We're saved. Lady Luck is on our side. We can escape to Galbadia!"

            Kiros smiled and coughed. "We've been run down! That's what they'd normally say."

            "Don't say that!" Laguna played the optimist. "It may come true. Didn't your grandmother ever tell you that?"

            Kiros smiled again. "…If you say something bad… It will come true. Yeah… I think she did."

            "Ggghh.." Ward grunted. "It… wa… fu… you…" He coughed between breaths.

            "Say again?" Laguna was puzzled.

            Ward smiled and looked at his comrades, making a final effort.

            "It… was… fun… you … guys." His breathing was getting heavier. "La…guna… Kiros. It… was… fun."

            "Ward. Don't say that. It's way uncool!" Laguna was getting desperate now. He didn't want the guys to give up. "Just for that, you're getting the cuchi-cuchi treatment." He tried to sound in higher spirits than he felt. But Ward wasn't listening anymore. His eyes were starting to glaze and his breathing getting quieter. Laguna heard the soldiers approaching. He decided he wasn't going to let Esthar take his friends.

            "See that boat there. We're going to get on it. We're going back to Galbadia. Together." He told them. He picked up the now-unconscious Kiros and threw him into the ocean. He dragged Ward along and shoved him off the cliff as well. He leaned his body over and started to climb down after them. He hadn't got very far, when he lost his footing.

            "AAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed, as he fell down to join his friends.


	14. New Objectives

14. New Objectives

            Zell had been pacing up and down for about half an hour, and breathed with relief as he saw Squall, Selphie and Quistis awake from their slumber.

            "Was it Laguna again?" He asked the first thing on his mind. 

Selphie nodded. "They're in BIG TROUBLE. I hope they'll be ok."

            "We're out in the open. It couldn't have been sleeping gas this time." Mused Squall. "But it didn't get you this time Zell…"

            Quistis stared with astonishment. "You mean this has happened to you before? Did you have the same dream as me?"

            Squall nodded. "Laguna, Kiros and Ward. Yes, we all passed out and dreamed about them before, in the train on the way to Timber."

            "What is it?" Quistis was baffled.

            _If it were just me, I could tell the others it was some crazy dream, but it seems too real to just be a dream. It's like no other experience I've ever felt._ Squall shook his head. "Look, we couldn't figure it out then, I doubt we can do it now. Let's just keep going."

            "Yeah, come on." Zell agreed and began to walk away.

            "No, wait, I want to know about this…" Quistis persisted as she followed Zell.

            They all set out, apart from Rinoa, who went to talk to Squall. "Um, Squall?" I think I may have said too much. I'm sorry." She apologised.

            Squall didn't really care. "Forget about it." He told her.

            The first thing Squall noticed was how different Galbadia Garden was different to Balamb in nearly every respect.

            Balamb was painted mainly blue and had a tranquil air about it, despite being a military academy. Galbadia appeared red, fiery and aggressive. But inside, things started to appear a little more familiar. There were students all milling around, chatting to one another, the entrance hall and lobby.

            "Could you leave this one to me?" Quistis turned to the others. "I've been here before and I know the Headmaster pretty well. I'll go and explain our situation."

            The others all started milling around. Inside, it all seemed much quieter than Balamb. Squall kind of liked it. It was actually kind of peaceful. Eventually, they were called out on the tannoy to report to the Headmaster's office. A Galbadian student showed them the way. They were shown to a comfy reception room with two large sofas, which Zell and Rinoa immediately sat down on. Selphie stared out of the window. Eventually Quistis joined them.

            "How'd it go?" Squall inquired.

            "They understand our situation." Quistis told them, then walked over to Zell. "And Balamb Garden is safe."

            Zell breathed a huge sigh of relief.

            "The attack on the president in Timber was classified as an independent action." She continued. "There was an official notice from the Galbadian Government saying Balamb Garden is not being held responsible." She continued.

            "So you mean, they let us go?" Squall felt things may have been a bit too easy. "Once they found they had Seifer?"

            "I think so." She sort of smiled. "I think they even thought it was Seifer behind the GF attacks."

            "So Seifer's taking all the blame?" Zell was also kind of amused.

            But then Quistis' face fell. "Yes. The trial's over, and the sentence has already been carried out…" she broke off, unable to say anymore, but they read the look on her face. 

Rinoa fell to her feet.            "…He was executed?" Tears started to fall down her face. "…Of course he was. He attacked the president. He sacrificed himself for the 'Forest Owls'"

            Quistis looked sternly at Rinoa. "It was your group that got Seifer involved in all this. You're a resistance faction. You must have been prepared for the worst." She sighed. "I'm sure Seifer was prepared too."

            "I don't know." Squall looked dark. "He never thought about the consequences of his actions." He sighed. "I was fed up of him getting other people into trouble. I knew he'd land himself in trouble one day, but this…" he shook his head.

            Rinoa was really crying now. "I… really, really liked him." She sobbed. "He was always confident, smart… Just by talking to him, I felt like I could take on anything."

            "Was he your boyfriend?" Selphie asked.

            "I don't really know." Rinoa sighed in frustration. "I… I think I was in love. I never found out how he felt though. It was last summer. I was 16. Lot's of fond memories…" she sort of sighed again.

            Zell thought this explained a lot. The Forest Owls were clearly unprepared and unrealistic, and yet, had huge, ambitious plan, that were quite obviously above them. Someone had to have put them up to it. "Rinoa." He said gently, "You really don't want to listen to people like that. Seifer never thought about his actions, Squall's right. He had a habit of getting people in trouble. Look what happened to us today."

            "You really hated him, didn't you Zell." Selphie looked at him.

            "Well, yeah, but executed…? You think I wanted something like that to happen to him?" He punched his palm. "He was still from Garden. Still one of us." He had a more determined look now. "If I can, I wanna get revenge."

            "It's a shame I don't have any good memories of him." Quistis sighed. "I've seen some troubled children, but he was beyond trouble. And yet, he wasn't really a bad guy. I still feel bad for him.

            _I liked him…Wasn't really a bad guy… Was one of us…_ Squall was thinking. Seifer was still the closest thing he had to a friend or family and now, he was just a memory. They'd been so similar in many ways. He thought of how his family were now just memories. And how inevitable it was. Death happened to everyone. One day, he'd become just a memory as well. Was that was death was all about?

            "Squall, what's wrong?" Quistis had noticed something getting to him.

            "I won't have it!" he shouted.

            "W-What do you mean?" Zell was stunned by Squall's outburst.

            "Look at him now. Already, he's just a memory. You feel you can say what you want about him. Well I'm not having anyone talk about me like that!" he stormed out of the room. He raced down the stairs, his hands almost burning with fury. He felt like grabbing his gunblade and slicing through some of the expensive-looking paintings on the wall. He just needed something to vent his anger out on. He was frustrated as well. Despite all his efforts not to get involved with others, he'd inadvertently done it. This was pain he was feeling. The pain you could only get when you lose someone. He'd almost reached the exit, when he heard someone call him.

            "Yo! Squall!" It was Raijin. What was he doing here?

            Raijin and Fujin came running up to meet him.

            "What are you doing here?" Squall asked them.

            "I'm a messenger, ya know?" Raijin told him. "We heard you were heading this way. Brought you a new order from Headmaster Cid, ya know?"

            "What order?" Squall was confused.

            "I dunno." Raijin shrugged. "I just delivered it to the head honcho here, ya know?"

            "EXPLAIN." Fujin demanded.

            "We were supposed to go to Timber. But the trains had stopped." Raijin told him. "Kinda glad you guys made it here, ya know?"

            "SEIFER?" Fujin enquired.

            "Oh yeah, wasn't Seifer with you guys?" Rajin asked.

            He didn't need this. Squall didn't want to have to break the news of Seifer's death to his two best friends. But there was no choice.

            "…He's dead." He told them. The two of them looked stunned. "He was tried in Galbadia for attacking the president, and executed." Squall hung his head. "I'm sorry." But to his surprise, Raijin and Fujin started laughing as if it was the funniest thing they'd ever heard.

            "LIES!" Fujin told him.

            "Bwa-haaaaaaaah. That's gotta be a lie, ya know?" there were tears in Raijin's eyes. "There's no way he'd put up with a trial, ya know? Or an execution for that matter. It's just not Seifer, ya know!?"

            Squall did know what Seifer was like. But how could you 'not put up with' an execution?

            "FIND!" Fujin ordered him.

            "Well, we gotta get back to Balamb, ya know? See ya Squall." Raijin waved goodbye to him, and the pair of them head out.

            "ATTENTION, SEED PARTY FROM BALAMB. PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE FRONT GATE." A voice rang out across the tannoy. Now what? He headed to the gate and waited for the others to join him. Presently, the others did.

            "We're to wait here." Quistis told him. "The master should be out here pretty soon."

            "I think that's him." Rinoa had seen a car approaching. "Just pretend I'm a SeeD too." She told them. "It'll be less complicated that way."

            The car pulled up, and Martine, the Galbadia Garden Headmaster stepped out. They all lined up and saluted, Rinoa, noticeably later than the others.

            "At ease." They all relaxed.

            "Good day." He greeted them. "I have official orders from Headmaster Cid addressed to you. Following regulations, I have gone over these orders and we have decided to fully co-operate and assist Headmaster Cid." He decided to mention something else. "Actually, we too, have been planning this for quite some time now. In order to stress the importance of this mission, I must first brief you on the current situation." He paused for breath. "As you know, the Sorceress has been appointed as the peace ambassador for the Galbadian Government. However, this is a cover-up. There will be no peace talks, only threats. The Sorceress creates fear among people, therefore peace talks are impossible."

            They all shuddered as they thought of the power she'd had over Seifer and how terrified he had been.

            "Galbadia is planning to use this fear to negotiate favourable conditions for itself. It is clear that Galbadia's goal is world domination." Martine continued. "Garden is no exception either, the Sorceress seems to have a particular dislike for SeeDs. We have very few options available to us. We entrust world peace, and the future to you."

            They all saluted again, Rinoa picking up a bit quicker this time.

            "Details of the mission are enclosed in these official orders." He handed them to Squall. "Any questions?"

            Squall skimmed through the details, when he noticed something.

            "The orders say, by means of 'a sniper'." He said. "We have no-one with that skill. I can use a gunblade, but I could never carry out an operation like that."

            "Don't worry about that part." Martine told him. "Let me introduce an elite sharpshooter from Galbadia Garden. He is not a SeeD, but he has better aim with a gun than anyone I know. This is Irvine Kinneas. He will be your sharpshooter"

            Another man stepped out the car. He was clad in a brown ¾ length jacket, with trousers to match, a blue t-shirt and a ponytail, which ran down just beneath the length of his shoulders. To complete the look, he wore a black cowboy hat on his head.

            "Leave whenever you're ready. Failure is not an option." Martine climbed back into his car and drove off.

            "BANG!" Irvine fired an invisible gun after the car. He turned to his new team-mates. "Looks like I'm with you rubes from Balamb. Greetings." He smiled warmly at them. Zell seemed to have taken an instant dislike to the guy.

            "You cool with me helping you?" Irvine inquired.

            "That depends on your attitude." Squall told him.

            Irvine nodded. "I sometimes say things that get a rise out of people. I don't mean it. Just don't let it bother you and we'll get along fine."

            This had clearly riled Zell again.

            "I'll remember that." He said, looking at Zell in his traditional 'angry' stance.

            "What's our next mission?" Selphie couldn't bear the suspense any longer.

            "Gather round. This is not an ordinary mission." Squall told them. "It's a direct order from Balamb and Galbadia Garden." He looked at them all, to make sure they were all listening. "We're to assassinate the Sorceress." He watched as the shock registered on all their faces. "We're to shoot her from afar. Kinneas will be our sharpshooter. We're to support him to our fullest. Should the sniper fail, we are to attack head on."

            "Thanks for the support." Irvine told him. "But I never miss my target."

            Squall shrugged. "Eliminate the sorceress. That's our order. We're going to head to the capital of Galbadia, Deling City. There, we'll meet up with General Caraway to go over the details for the plan." He noticed Rinoa looking uncomfortable at this part. "Also, we're to split into two groups to get there, so as not to arouse suspicion."

            "Well then." Irvine spoke "How about this?" He strode over to Selphie and Rinoa and put an arm round each of them.

            "No." Squall said simply. Irvine was turning out to be more trouble than he was worth. He thought hard. It was clear that he should not put Zell and Irvine together and also that putting him with two girls was also not a good idea. He thought he'd better take Irvine along with him and Rinoa, since he was meant to be protecting her. That left Zell, Selphie and Quistis. That was fine. The three of them got on well, and Quistis had a good head on her shoulders. He organised the parties.

            "Meet up at the station." He told them. I'll get the tickets. Leave 5 minutes after we're gone."

            They left for the train station. There were a few students hanging around, planning a weekend away. It wasn't that much different from Balamb after all. Squall bought all of their tickets and they stepped inside the train. As an afterthought, he swiped the tickets to allow them access to the carriage. Just to save a nagging from Selphie. Rinoa went to stand by the window. Irvine nudged him.

            "Selphie, Rinoa and Quistis… Hard to know which one to choose, isn't it man?" He grinned. "You're lucky. You've been hanging round with 'em all day."

            _Whatever._

            Presently, the other three arrived. Selphie went straight over to the door and was delighted when it opened.

            "Hee! You caught on." She smiled as Squall.

            Irvine watched as she disappeared. He smiled.

            "Ah well, maybe it's fate?" He followed her.

            Zell grimaced. "So what do we do about HIM? Hey Squall. I don't want that Irvine guy using our SeeD car. Don't open it for him."

            "Do you reckon someone should check on him?" Rinoa wondered. She looked at Squall meaningfully. "I don't think it's a good idea for me or Quistis to go."

            He knew what she meant. He followed them.

            "Selphie, we're destined to be together." Irvine was saying to her.

            "Y-Yeah, right…" Selphie seemed a little nervous by the attention.

            "A sigh of love?" He looked at her. "But think about it. You and I…" He caught Squall looking at him with contempt. "Pardon me." He walked back out. Squall followed him.

            "Rinoa…" he was swooning at her now. Rinoa ran over to stand by Squall.

            "Irvine Kinneas! You're playing a major role in this mission. Now behave yourself!" Quistis finally lost her patience.

            "Come on you guys. It's just a bit of fun. Think back to your childhood days. It was all just having a laugh, right?" His face fell as they just stared at him. "Come on guys…"

            "Irvine? What are you on about?" Squall looked at him.

            "Heh, well you wouldn't remember would ya?" he looked at Squall playfully.

            "As a kid?"

            Yeah, he remembered. Too well. He didn't want to think about that.

            Irvine looked at each of them in turn as if looking for something. After he'd scrutinised them all, he gave up whatever he was after.

            "No-one understands me…" he said. "Sharpshooters are loners by nature. We hone our instincts, pour our whole being into a single bullet. The pressure of the moment… An instant of tension…"

            They were all still looking at him.

            "You see? You don't understand. No-one does. It's not easy. So like… do me a favour and let me be. You get my drift?"

            Zell punched the floor in frustration. The whole train shook.

            "Easy Zell." Squall looked at him.


	15. Fall From Grace

15. Fall From Grace

            They reached Deling City and stepped out of the station. It was the biggest city Squall had ever seen.

            "We're going to Caraway's Mansion, right?" Rinoa said. "Just take bus 8."

            "Hey! You're pretty familiar with this place!" Irvine was impressed.

            Rinoa said nothing, just looked uncomfortable.

            _So this is where Laguna's from?_ Squall recognised the scenery, though it was a little differen. There were a lot of festivities being prepared. Streamers, every colour of the rainbow adorned the streets, hung from the lamps. There were enormous helium balloons towering above the city. Everywhere people were running round putting up more decorations, fiddling with switches, creating very impressive-looking light shows. He wondered what they were in aid of. Whatever it was, it was certainly extravagent. They boarded the bus. Another thought struck him. Caraway was the head of the Galbadian Army and he was involved in the plot to assassinate the Sorceress? Could this be a coup d'etat? No, that didn't make sense. But he realised he was looking out the windows, wondering if they'd see Laguna anywhere. This could be the answer to his dreams he realised. He was sure Laguna existed. But then what about his last dream? Was Laguna dead? Was he going to die like that? Was someone showing him these things so that he could save him? 

As the bus drove away from the city centre, the colourful streamers and lights faded away into the background, as they pulled up next to an equally ornate and impressive looking mansion. This was General Caraway's residence. They disembarked and gazed up in awe, except for Rinoa, who seemed to be looking at it with hatred and distaste.

"Excuse me, can I help you at all?" A guard spoke, grabbing their attention

            "We're here to see General Caraway." Squall told him, flashing his SeeD card. "I believe he's been informed of our arrival?"

            "Yes, indeed, sir. Right this way." He ushered them through the gate.

            _Why are both Balamb AND Galbadia joining forces with the general of the Galbadian army?_ This thought had been bugging him ever since they'd left Galbadia Garden, but he brushed it away. SeeDs weren't meant to question why.

            "Um." Rinoa interrupted his thoughts. "Is my contract still in effect?" He turned to her, wondering what was up. "Don't leave me alone in this house, ok?" She asked of him. "Want me to explain why?"

            He sighed. "You should know by now. You tell me what to do, and I'll do it."

            She brightened. "Ok then, thanks!"

            If the outside of the house had looked impressive, the inside of Caraway's office was something else. The lighting was soft and left a warm glow around the room. All the furniture was elegantly hand-carved, except for the seats, which were large and soft, all made out of red leather. As if that wasn't enough, there were many statues and ornaments that were quite clearly antiques dotted around the room. Irvine had already made himself comfortable in the chair at the desk. Rinoa and Selphie had both taken seats round a table, Selphie was 'Looking out the window' as usual and Zell was pacing up and down in frustration, because there was still no sign of Caraway and they were all getting a bit impatient. They'd been waiting in the room for about five minutes, and at first had been too gobsmacked to speak, and they were still in silence. It didn't help that they were on a hugely important and dangerous mission. If they failed, chances are, they would die, if they succeeded and they were caught, they'd probably spend the rest of their lives in jail. The tension in the air was so heavy, Squall felt he could almost touch it. Zell's pacing seemed to have gotten quicker, and more aggressive, as it was, it was the only sound of the room. Even though he was speeding up, it seemed to the group that each step became slower, and each time he put his foot down, it was a thump that made the whole room shake. Only their own heartbeats seemed to be making more noise. Finally, Rinoa snapped.

            "That's IT! He's always doing this! Making people wait! He's so impolite." She rose out of her chair. "Stay there, I'll go and fetch him." And stormed out of the room.

            "Whoa!" Zell was impressed. "You mean, she's just going to go in and…"

            She reappeared. "Don't worry about it. This is my house. Make yourselves at home."

            "Her house?" Zell was confused.

            At that moment, Caraway entered, without Rinoa.

            "Where's Rinoa?" Squall asked. He was meant to be protecting her after all.

            "In her room." Caraway replied. "She has not received the type of training you have. I don't want her involved in this."

            "You're Rinoa's Father?" something inside Selphie's head clicked into place.

            Caraway's eyes seemed to glaze over and he sighed. "I can't remember the last time she called me that." He said sadly.

            "But hang on. Your surname is Caraway. Hers is Heartilly." Selphie was confused.

            "She goes by her late mother's surname." He shook his head. "It's as if she doesn't want to be connected to me at all."

            Something inside Squall's head clicked too. "You let us escape from Timber!"

            "Normally I try not to have anything to do with Timber, but I couldn't let my daughter… I can't believe she went so far!" He clenched his fists in frustration. "Trying to kidnap the president, and then her boyfriend, Seifer…"

            "You orchestrated Seifer's execution, too." There was no tone to Squall's voice.

            "He got my daughter into so much trouble. He put her up to all this business. But I didn't… I stayed out of that, it was Deling's decision. My daughter hates me enough as it is. I didn't want her to hate me anymore."

            "So the father's a top military officer, and the daughter's a member of an anti-government faction?" Zell shook his head. 'Talk about family problems!' he thought.

            "Yes. It's a serious problem. But it's ours. It doesn't concern you. Besides, there are far more important matters to contend with."

            "That's not the case. Once we're finished here, we're working for Rinoa, as per our contract." Squall corrected him. "Garden's and Rinoa's directives have the same meaning for us." What if Rinoa ordered him to kill her father? He was head of the Galbadian army after all. "I don't know the entire situation, or what will come of it. But please don't interfere when the time comes and we have to work for her again."

            "And if I do?" Caraway's response was flat.

            "We're all SeeDs." Squall reminded him. "We act as per the directions of our client."

            "HEY! Fellas!" Irvine broke into the conversation. They'd forgotten about him sitting in the corner, almost hidden from sight. "We're here to knock of the Sorceress, right?" He sprung to his feet. "So let's get down to business." The situation was making him feel a little uncomfortable, and he didn't like where it may be heading.

            Caraway was glad of the interruption. "Very well. Let me explain the plan."

            He pulled away a cloth to reveal an exact miniature of Deling City Centre. The main centre of the city consisted of a circular road, bisected by another, which passed under a magnificent archway. A beautiful park was in each semi-circle, with a shopping arcade round one side of the circle and posh houses on the other. Caraway's mansion was one of them. At the far end, where the straight road met the outer circle, was the Presidential Residence, overlooking the entire city and facing the arch. The other end led towards the outer city.

            He started the briefing. "I'm sure you're all aware of Deling's alliance with Sorceress Edea."

            "Edea?" Irvine looked surprised at the name.

            "Yes, that's her name. You didn't think she was just called 'The Sorceress' did you?"

            "No, it's not that…" Irvine decided it better to shut up.

            "Tomorrow night, there will be a ceremony to celebrate the event. An inauguration party, if you will. It'll be held at the Presidential Residence." He gestured to it on the model. "When the ceremony starts, is when we take action. You will split into two groups. The 'Gateway Team' will enter the archway and stand by. The 'Sniper Team' will wait at the entrance to the Presidential Residence, right here." He pointed to another spot on the model, on the pavement, opposite the Residence. "Now, here's the important bit. Once the inauguration ceremony is over, a parade for the sorceress will begin. That's when the gates for the Residence will open. Lay low until then, the parade may be cancelled if there is any commotion, but when the gates open, you MUST get inside! It should be rather easy with the parade drawing the crowd's and the guard's attention. Once inside, head for the roof of the residence. In the corridor leading to the pulpit, there is an access hatch leading to the clock tower. There is a carousel clock inside, that will rise into action at 2000 hours. Wait in there. We will be planting a sniper rifle in there for you, it would be too noticeable for you to carry it around with you.

            "Now, the parade will start at the residence. It will leave the gate and turned left." He gestured with his hands. "The parade will circle once around the city centre on the ring road and return here. It will then turn right, and head through the arch. At the end of the road, it will turn round and come back. Here's where the Gateway Team comes into play. 

"It will be 8 o'clock by then, and the carousel clock will have risen. Sniper Team, make sure you CANNOT be seen on that clock. Once the Sorceress' vehicle passes under the archway, the gateway team will activate the console to drop the gates, trapping the sorceress inside. This will give the Sniper Team a clear shot at the Sorceress. Also, because she is trapped, IF the Sniper Team fails, you must attack her head on. She will have nowhere to run.

"Now, we have to form the teams. The sniper and the leader of this operation shall form this team. The leader must be the one to attack the Sorceress if the sniper fails. The plan was devised carefully, because we intend this to be a covert operation, but our ultimate goal is to eliminate the Sorceress, and this MUST be accomplished at any cost. So, who's going to lead the operation?"

Everyone turned to look at Squall. This was fine by him.

"I will." He said simply

"OK, I will leave the rest up to you as far as this team goes. That means the other three will form the 'Gateway Team'. Squall, pick a leader for this team."

Squall saw Zell start practising his mid-air punches, trying to be noticed.

Sorry Zell 

"Instructor Trepe. You're our most experienced fighter here. You lead the team."

Zell looked disappointed, but realised Squall was right. Quistis would be a good leader. Caraway finished the briefing.

"That is all. Until then, you are free. Go check out the city if you like, I've made you reservations in the hotel. Just two things, 1, Be back at my residence at 1800 hours tomorrow, SHARP. 2, Stay out of trouble."

"We are SeeDs." Squall reminded him. Just because they worked for a trouble maker…

"Very well." Caraway ended the meeting. "Dismissed."

            The group filed out and made their way for the hotel.

            "What do you think about all this?" Zell asked Squall.

            "None of our business, really." Squall shrugged. He wanted to know really. There was something funny about this mission, but… He wasn't supposed to question his orders.

            Irvine sided up to them. "So is it true, that SeeDs aren't supposed to question their mission?" he asked.

            Squall didn't answer.

            "Well, yeah." Zell told him. "We get hired by contract and we work for our client."

            "But what if you didn't want to do what you were asked?" Irvine was curious.

            "It's not up to us really." Zell shrugged.

            "Alright, but let's say your enemies were pure evil, would you be more geared up to fight them?" Irvine pressed his point.

            "Irvine." Squall sighed. "You don't get 'pure evil' and 'pure good'. Good and evil are not what separates us. It's our different viewpoints and beliefs on things."

            Squall was not particularly happy about working with Irvine. It seemed he wasn't entirely focused, and he had a rather naïve view about things.

            "So why are we assassinating the Sorceress? Do we have to do this?" Irvine asked unhappily.

            "Irvine, you're a student in Garden. You're training to be a SeeD. You must know about your job as one, surely?"

            "I never thought about it too much." He sighed. "But here you are, saying that the Sorceress doesn't deserve to be assassinated, so why are we doing it?"

            Squall didn't know what to say. True, he wanted to know what the purpose of this mission was, but it wasn't his job to ask. "I didn't say she doesn't deserve it. I'm sure there is a very good reason Caraway wants her dead. But are his hands clean? Is there no-one who holds a grudge against him? Even his own daughter hates him for the things he's done."

            "So how do you know which side to take?"

            "You don't take sides." His life sounded very dirty right now. "You do whatever the person hiring you tells you."

            Irvine was desperate now. "But if that person told you to go and kill an innocent child! You'd have to do it?" he cried.

            Squall didn't want to think about that. Would anyone order that? He never answered.

            "See, it's wrong, isn't it?"

            "So why are you training to be a SeeD then, if you resent it so much?" Squall was getting cross now. Irvine was just making no sense.

            "I never thought I'd have to do something like this." He muttered unhappily.

            "Whilst training to be a sniper?"

            "No, it's not that. It's Edea. We're going to kill Edea!"

            "The Sorceress, yes." Squall didn't see much difference.

            "Are you that cold Squall? Does this mean nothing to you?" Irvine's eyes implored him.

            "What does she matter to me?" Squall asked, irritably. "I don't know her. She's just another enemy to me."

            Irvine's mouth dropped open. He looked to the others for support, but they gave none. They, like Squall, couldn't understand the fuss Irvine was making. They were SeeDs and they had a job to do. None of them knew Edea other than as the Sorceress and their target, so why should they question it, they asked him.

            They checked into their rooms. One for Squall, Zell and Irvine, one for Quistis and Selphie. Neither Squall, nor Zell were happy about this. Zell didn't mind sharing with Squall; despite his distance, he quite liked him, but Irvine was just impossible. Squall would just rather have a room to himself.

            "Does anyone fancy going for a drink in the bar downstairs?" Selphie asked them.

            "Sure." Zell was up for it.

            "OK." Squall agreed. Normally he would have passed on this, but the hotel was exactly as it had been in his dream sequence. Did Julia exist as well then? Would she be playing the piano downstairs tonight? Would Laguna, Kiros and Ward come to see her? Most importantly, would they find the answer to the dream riddles?

            He got the impression that these were Zell and Selphie's motives too. Presently, Quistis and Irvine agreed, and they all went downstairs.

            Once in the bar, Squall, Zell and Selphie, without consulting, all walked over to the exact table Laguna had sat on in the dream. The waitress had called it 'their usual'.

            Simultaneously, they all looked over towards the piano. But Julia wasn't there.

            Irvine smoothed over to Quistis and Selphie. "I'm off to the bar. Want anything?"

            Quistis was on to his game. "Certainly, I'll have a glass of wine. Selphie?"

            "Sure!" Selphie agreed.

            "Coming up!" he smiled and turned to go.

            "Irvine?" Quistis called him back.

            "Yeah?"

            "Squall and Zell!"

            He looked confused.

            "You haven't asked them what they want!" she smirked.

            "Oh, err, yeah." He looked a little awkward.

            "You weren't just going to buy a round for half the party were you?" Quistis was enjoying this.

            "No, no. Not at all!" Irvine bluffed. "Squall? Zell?"

            "I'll have a beer please. Thanks!" Zell grinned. He was enjoying this too.

            "Yeah, make it two." Squall said absently. Might as well join in if they were going to wait down here.

            Irvine shuffled away to get the drinks.

            "That was mean!" Selphie looked upset.

            "That'll learn him!" Zell smiled.

            "Hey Squall. Are you ok? Who are you looking for?" Quistis teased.

            "Julia…" he said, forgetting Quistis had not been in the first dream.

            "Who?" Quistis was puzzled.

            "Oh yeah, do you reckon she'll show up?" Selphie realised.

            "Who are you talking about?" Quistis just looked at them.

            "Remember the dream world? With Laguna, Kiros and Ward?" Zell reminded her.

            "Yes…" Quistis was still confused and a little scared about that incident.

            "Well, remember we said we'd experienced it before? When we went to that dream world before, the three of them came here to watch a girl called Julia play the piano. Laguna had a crush on her." Zell explained. "I don't think it was just a dream. It seemed too real. The hotel is the same as in the dream. We were wondering, would they show up here?"

            "But they died!" Quistis told him. "They were injured by Esthar soldiers and thrown off a cliff, even if they DID exist…"

            "Were they?" Squall cut in. The others were surprised. This wasn't like him. "Were those events happening at the time? Was it a portent of the future?" He voiced his theory. "Maybe someone showed us those events to try and stop that from happening. So we could save them."

            Selphie nodded slowly. "Yes… That would make sense…"

            Zell finished off. "And since we were going to Galbadia. We were shown where to find them… You think it's going to come to a head here?"

            "Possibly." Squall told them. They all mulled it over. It seemed to add up, except…

            "But who's trying to save them? And how did they know we'd be coming here?"

            "I dunno." Squall admitted.

            "Some kind of psychic?" offered Selphie.

            "All we know is Laguna…"

            "Who's Laguna?" Irvine arrived back with the drinks.

            "Oh just someone that…" Squall's voice trailed off. How did you explain this to someone who'd not seen the dreams? Laguna was someone they knew? Hardly. Some figment who'd they'd all seen in a dream? It'd just sound preposterous. And indeed it did. But Squall, Zell, Selphie and Quistis. They'd all experienced it and they all knew, deep down, it was something more than just a dream, but none of them could figure it out. Without saying anything, their eye contact all agreed that they would push the incident aside. It seemed they'd find out something soon enough. In the meantime, Irvine just looked baffled as they all sat round looking lost.

            "It's nothing. You wouldn't know him." Selphie closed the case sensibly.

            "An ex-boyfriend?" Irvine raised his eyebrow at her.

            "Well, I wouldn't mind…" Selphie smiled shyly.

            A look of jealousy flashed across Irvine's face.

            "I'm joking!" Selphie noticed it.

            Irvine sat down and handed out the drinks. They all started talking, but (apart from Irvine) all of them were keeping an eye out for a glimpse of Laguna, Kiros, Ward or Julia. Presently, the first round was finished. Deciding she'd better practice what she preached, Quistis went to get the second round. This gave Irvine the chance he wanted to have a one-on-one with Selphie, un-policed by Quistis and knowing neither Squall nor Zell cared what he did, as long as they accomplished their mission.

            "You know, I reckon this might do it." Zell mused.

            "Do what?" Squall asked.

            "Remember, I wanted revenge for Seifer? Well it was the Sorceress' fault. If we kill her, do you reckon that will even the score?"

            "Maybe." Squall shrugged. He wasn't too bothered about that detail. But there was SOMETHING bothering him about this set-up. He decided to ask Zell. He did seem to enjoy being a font of knowledge.

            "Zell, they reactivated the Dollet Communications Tower so they could announce the inauguration of the Sorceress, and now she's having this extravagant parade in her honour to celebrate. Why are they making such a big deal out of this?"

            "I dunno man." Zell shrugged. "I've found it kinda odd as well." He read Squall's mind. "There's something Caraway and Martine aren't telling us about this, isn't there?"

            "I find it strange that Caraway's involved, to be honest." Squall decided to come clean. "I mean, Martine is head of Galbadia Garden. He said that Galabadia has it's sight's set on world domination, including Garden. I guess that would explain Martine's motives, maybe even Cid's. After all it was a joint order, though I still feel Martine was hiding something."

            "I guess…" Zell took this in.

            "But Caraway, he's the head of the Galbadian Army. He's one of Deling's top men. Why should he be plotting against him like this?"

            "I can think of two things." Zell considered this. "One is, he's out to overthrow Deling."

            "I don't think so." Squall had considered this one. "I don't see how assassinating the Sorceress would help him achieve that. I think if that was his aim, he'd have tried it a long time ago. He's been head of the military for a long time."

            "Then he's feeling threatened by her." Zell guessed. "I mean, she's just been slotted in as Deling's second-in-command. Maybe he doesn't like his loss of position."

            Squall mulled this over. It was possible. Though assassination seemed a bit of a drastic measure. Before he could ponder this further though, Quistis arrived with the next round of drinks. Squall and Zell decided not to mention their thoughts to the others, Irvine in particular was less than happy about the mission already. The drinks were duly drunk and Selphie offered to buy the next round. Zell decided if all the others were, he should offer as well. On the same train of thought, Squall decided it was only right and coughed up for the final round. By this time, all talk of Laguna (who had failed to appear) and the mission were forgotten and the conversation had turned into the type of chatter that will occur with a group of people after 5 drinks. By now the bar was shutting, and they decided it would be a good idea to crash out, so they would not be too bleary the next day for the mission.

*****

            Much of the next day was spent making last minute preparations. Squall was preparing for the chance that he may have to take on the Sorceress himself. He remembered she'd cast Paralyse on them all last time, and so Junctioned Paralyse to his Status Defence. He knew that trick wouldn't work again, so he tried to think what else she might pull out.

            Irvine was practising his aim with a toy gun he'd bought in the gift shop; he didn't want people panicking at the sounds of gunfire.

            "Do you have a GF that will allow junction to your Hit accuracy?" Squall asked him.

            "Don't use GF." Irvine replied simply.

            "Why not?" Squall was puzzled. "Why not use something that can make you stronger, faster and more accurate?"

            "I don't like it." Irvine shuddered. "My aim's perfect anyway. Plus, I don't like the idea of allowing weird beasts into my head. I've heard they steal your memories."

            "That's nonsense." Quistis assured him. "People just don't like the idea of them, because of their power. It's fear and the reactions that come with it."

            "There's been research onto that, and it's been confirmed as false." Zell agreed. "We all use GF's and we've never forgotten anything important."

"Oh really?" Irvine shot a funny glance at them.

"Really! We can remember all our training and our missions and everything!" Selphie told him. "Why'd you look at us so funny?"

"How can you be so sure you've never lost a memory? The thing is about forgetting things, is, you forget them. How would you know that you'd forgotten something, because there would be no trace of it in your mind?"

"Look, just let him be." Squall sighed. "If he doesn't want to use GF, fine. But your shot had better be spot on!" he warned.

"No probs!" He aimed the plastic gun at the make-shift target and hit the bulls-eye.

It was 6 o'clock, and they were back at Caraway's. He gave them all a re-briefing and, after half an hour, they prepared to leave.

"The 'gateway team', leave a little later." He told them. We don't want to arouse suspicion." He left with Squall and Irvine, and they headed to the designated spot.

"You two wait here." He told them.

Squall finally asked his question.

"General, why is the Sorceress having such an extravagant parade?"

"She wants to establish her place here, and in Galbadia Garden, since she has chosen that to be her base." Caraway told him.

_Right! _That explained Martine's motives, anyway. If she took over Galbadia Garden, he'd lose it, his job, his power, his entire life! That's why Galbadia Garden wanted her out. But Caraway? He decided not to ask.

"I'm returning to my residence. Good luck!" He told them.

Quistis had just made up her mind to lead her group out, when Rinoa burst in.

"Hi!" she greeted them breathlessly. "I've been waiting for them to leave. Did that man say anything?"

"Not really." Zell shrugged.

"Where's Squall?" she looked around.

"I'm sorry Rinoa, but we have to get going." Quistis told her.

"Wait a minute!" Rinoa stopped her. "Take a look at this." She held out a bracelet. "It's an Odine Bangle. I found it in that man's room."

"Odine!?" Zell was impressed.

"What about it?" Selphie was confused.

"It's supposed to suppress the Sorceresses' Powers. I don't think they know how much though, so that's why they're not using it in this mission. But anything will help, right?"

"Well if it's an Odine it should be pretty good." Zell agreed. "They're No.1 when it comes to magical goods."

"Right!" exclaimed Rinoa.

"So… you're planning on getting the Sorceress to wear it?" Quistis shook her head. "Who? When? How?"

"That's what we're going to discuss!" Rinoa told her brightly.

"We don't have time for this!" Quistis shouted, making the others all jump.

"Squall and Irvine are standing by. We have an operation to carry out. An important one!" she softened her voice. "You understand, don't you? This isn't a father-daughter quarrel. This isn't a game. We have to stick to the orders we were given. I'm sorry Rinoa." She turned and walked out. Zell and Selphie followed her.

"Who said this was a game?" Rinoa sighed. "I understand what's going on. I just want to help. Well, I have a plan too."

Caraway walked back in. He tried to speak to his daughter.

"It'll be chaos out there soon. You'll be safe here."

Rinoa just waved him away. Caraway left, but she heard something. He was activating the time lock, to lock her in. With impeccable timing, she jumped through the doors as they slammed shut. Caraway left, sound in the knowledge his daughter was locked up out of harm's way. Now he believed that, Rinoa was free to carry out her own plan. Hugging the front of the mansion, she ran round into the back garden, keeping out of view of the windows.

At the back she found it, the tree with it's branches hanging over the walls. The one she'd climbed as a child, every time she wanted to go out in to the city when her father wouldn't let her. She smiled as she remembered her carefree days running through other people's back gardens, pretending she was on some kind of adventure. Well, she was pretending no longer.

"I'm not a SeeD, but… I can do this!" she convinced herself. "This isn't some kind of game, I know that."

Sure enough, she reached the last garden, and climbed over into the back alleys behind the Presidential residence. Slowly, and quietly, she crept along the alley walls, trying to stay silent, as she knew the guards would be on high alert tonight. Presently, she found what she was after, the back gates where there was a small dent in the pavement, where she'd always been able to sneak under. She didn't know how long it had been since she'd gone in this way, but she knew she still had to try. Breathing in, to try and make herself as thin as possible, she squeezed under the railings, trying to stop from crying out as the bottoms of them scratched her back, drawing blood. Picking herself up, she brushed the dirt of herself, looked round, and smiled. One thing, at least, had not changed. They still piled the boxes as high as the roof, so that any idiot could climb up.

She made her way to the very top of the building, taking care not to go round to the front, where she would be seen easily by the crowd,  went into the top entrance and found her way to the Sorceress' room. There was an air of foreboding again, but she was determined. The Sorceress was sitting in a chair at the far end, with her back to the door.

"Umm… Excuse me…" Rinoa spoke. "I'm… the daughter of General Caraway… the head of the Galbadian Army. I thought I'd… come pay my respects. You know… 'cause of my father and all…" She slowly edged forwards. She could see the Sorceress still adorned with magnificent jewellery. Now she boasted a semi-circle like hairpiece with long white sheets flowing from it.

"So… I… um brought you a small gift. I know you like jewellery, so… I got you this beautiful bracelet…" she stepped forwards again and was thrown back in a flash of light. Then, all of a sudden, she was swept up into the air, where she hung, paralysed. The Sorceress stepped out of her chair and turned round. She removed her visor and looked over Rinoa. She smiled as she let Rinoa drop to the floor.

Down below, Squall and Irvine were waiting for her appearance.

"Here she comes." Muttered Irvine as she stepped up to the pedestal.

The Sorceress stepped up to the pedestal. Behind her, following as if in a trance was Rinoa. She tried to focus on Squall down below.

"H-Hey! That girl…!" Irvine started.

"Oh no…!" Squall saw her too. "Rinoa?" Now he was in a dilemma. He had two orders. One was to stay put. The other was to protect Rinoa.

Edea looked down on the rabble in scorn. Deling was giving his speech, but for Squall, Irvine, Rinoa and Edea, it barely registered.

"…Lowlifes." Edea muttered as she gazed across them. "…Shameless wretches. How they celebrate my ascension with such joy. Hailing the very one you have condemned for generations. Have they no shame? What happened to the evil, ruthless Sorceress from their fantasies, who their hero would slay?" A smile twisted onto her face. "Now she stands before their eyes, to become their new ruler!" she laughed.

Deling appeared to hear her. He turned round. "Edea? Are you alright?"

She drew a blade and by magic, extended it to impale Deling.

"This is reality!" She shouted. "No-one can help you before my power!"

Rinoa was stunned. Here it was… Her arch nemesis, slain! But all she could do was watch, powerless to move her body. Edea turned to her.

"Sit back and enjoy the show!" She told her. "This ceremony will end with a sacrifice."

A ball of light shot from her hands towards two lizard-like statues on the arch. At once, they sprang to life and ran through the crowd, leaping through the air towards Rinoa. As Edea descended to her parade vehicle, Rinoa found herself able to move again. But she could not outrun the two lizard creatures which cornered her in the far room. She tried to cast a spell on them, but a small green creature with a red jewel in it's forehead emerged. It's jewel shone and bathed the creatures in a red light, causing Rinoa's Fire spell to bounce back. Rinoa was stunned. These beasts had GF junctioned? Still, shocked as she was, Rinoa still had her wits about her. She ducked as the fireball flew over her head and singed the wall. But without the use of magic, and having no weapon of her own, she was powerless to stop these creatures from destroying her.

Irvine had noticed the creatures sailing through the air.

"It's Rinoa! She's in trouble! We gotta go help her!" he shook Squall's shoulder.

But Squall knew, his direct order from Garden to priority over Rinoa's orders. Furthermore…

"The parade hasn't started. The gate's not open." He told Irvine.

"You've gotta be kidding!" Irvine was appalled.

But at that moment, the gates opened and the parade vehicle came out.

"Come on!" Squall turned to Irvine. Under cover of the crowd, they ran through the dancers surrounding Edea's parade vehicle and in through the gates. They were about to ascend up the boxes round the back, when Squall looked over the parade vehicle and something caught his eye which made his heart miss a beat. There was another figure on the float, obviously Edea's bodyguard. He was surveying the crowd with glee, lapping up his position on the float, saluting the crowd with his gunblade. Squall recognised him at once. It was Seifer.

Raijin and Fujin were right. They'd been lied to. Seifer wasn't tried OR executed. Edea had taken him and he was now one of her minions. Which meant…

Well, that wasn't important right now. He scaled to the top of the roof with Irvine and they ran into the building. In the far room, they found Rinoa, cornered by the two beasts.

"C'mon Squall. You're such a fan of GF, use one!" Irvine yelled.

"No! It'll take out Rinoa as well. And half the building for that matter!" Squall knew he had to draw the beasts away from Rinoa. Firstly, he found one of their minds and extracted the GF Carbuncle from it. Irvine cursed himself for not having his gun, but he couldn't go and get the sniper rifle, and it would be useless at this range anyway.

Squall knew it was down to him. He sliced one of them down the back, which got their attention. It also meant he had them both turned on him, and these things were FAST. He began hacking and slashing for all he was worth as they both dived on him. He didn't even know how many times he'd pulled the trigger, but soon his barrel was empty. One of them lay dead, but the other one? He could use magic, but it had Reflect cast on it. He couldn't summon Carbuncle; the beast was too fast to give him time. It seemed wounded enough to him though. He held his blade in front of his face and squared up to it. As it dived, he ducked under it and stuck his blade into it's underbelly. The monster fell to the ground. He stuck his blade into the beast again. And again. And again and again, until he felt Irvine's hand on his shoulder.

"That's enough man. It's dead." He said softly. They both went to look at Rinoa.

"I was so scared!" she cried.

"It's over now." Squall helped her up.

"I thought I was going to die!" she clung onto him. "I was scared. I was really, really scared." She kept repeating, traumatised.

He tried to walk off, but she still clung to him. Shaking.

"I haven't forgotten your order. I'll protect you." She still wouldn't let go.

"Just stay close." He sighed. That worked. They hunted around and found the access panel Caraway had told them about. They worked their way into the clock, and Squall found the sniper rifle that had been hidden. He handed it to Irvine.

"Irvine Kinneas! It's in your hands now."

Irvine took it from him without a word, and went to sit at the opposite side of the clock. Squall wondered why he was being so quiet, then figured he must be concentrating. _Loneliness of the sharpshooter… I guess he has a point_. His thoughts turned to the parade. They just had to wait for the clock to spring into life and then for Quistis and the others to lower the gates. He hated waiting like this. He then remembered Seifer. He decided he had to tell Rinoa.

            "Rinoa." He called her. "Seifer's alive. He was in the parade with the sorceress. He's her bodyguard."

            Rinoa's face fell. "But first he tried to help us, now he's working with my enemy. With Deling gone, Edea's the President of Galbadia. What does this mean?"

            "I don't know." Squall sighed. "It looks to me like he's been bribed with power and taken it. You don't know him Rinoa. Not half as well as I do. I've known him as long as I can remember. He only cares about himself. It may sound harsh, but I don't think he felt the same way you did."

            "I think I see that now. If his loyalties were really with us, he wouldn't be out there now. Not defending the woman who just tried to kill me."

            "I just wanted you to know, so you wouldn't feel too bad, if…"

            "…if what?" she asked.

            "If I face the Sorceress directly, and Seifer is her bodyguard, I'll probably have to go through him first." He paused a second, hoping she would catch on so he didn't have to say it. "I may have to kill Seifer."

            Rinoa let her head drop. "You're both… prepared right? You know, that if you fail, he may kill you?" her voice sounded far away. "That's the kind of world you live in. You've both had a lot of emotional training." Squall nodded. She was beginning to understand. "I'd just rather it not happen."

            "I know." he said. Of course he didn't want to die. And he didn't want to have to kill Seifer. Losing him, someone who'd always been there, no matter what their disagreements…

            Rinoa leaned against him and put her hand in his. He held it, tightly. He wasn't one for relying on others, but he had to admit, he enjoyed this bit of comfort.

            "It's all up to Irvine." He said, but then when looked over at Irvine he saw that was slumped, shaking. He looked up, tears in his eyes.

            "I can't do it!"

            "Yo! Quistis! It's heading this way!" Zell looked out the window and saw the float, slowly, but surely heading down the road towards them. In a few minutes, it would pass under the arch, and they would let the gates drop.

            "Fine! Just tell me the second it disappears under the arch." Quistis told him.

            Squall silently uttered every curse word he knew. Why did this have to happen at such a crucial moment?

            "Irvine! You can't doubt it any longer! You wondered whether she deserved to die? Well she just killed Deling and tried to kill Rinoa! Just think of that!" Squall was desperate.

            "I'm sorry. I can't kill someone." Irvine sobbed. "I try to act cool, joke around, but I can't handle it."

            At that moment Squall felt the whole room start to shake. He almost fell to the floor, as the carousel clock burst into life and shot up through the roof. From this height, he had a view of the whole city. The float was heading for the arch, which meant they had little time left. Picking himself up he ran over to Irvine. He HAD to convince him

            "Irvine." He said slowly.

            "I cannot kill the Sorceress. Whether she deserves it or not, I don't know now. I didn't believe she'd do such a thing."

            "But she did! So shoot!"

            "It's not just that. My bullet, the Sorceress. I'll go down in history!"

            "No you won't! Because we're undercover. Caraway is covering us." He hoped this was true. "No-one will ever know you pulled the trigger!"

            "Irvine, calm down." The float was edging closer. "Everyone's waiting. I don't care if you miss, whatever happens, leave the rest to me."

            The float passed under the arch.

            "Quistis! NOW!" Zell yelled.

            The gate came crashing down in front of the float. Edea rose and looked behind her to see the other gate come crashing down. She narrowed her eyes and looked dead ahead, straight at the clock where Squall and Irvine were hiding.

            "Just think of it as a signal. A sign for us to make our move." Squall was trying to stay calm.

            "Just a signal." Irvine repeated and crouched.

            "Please." Squall breathed

            "Just a sign." Irvine breathed again. He pulled the trigger. The bullet went sailing towards Edea, bearing down directly on her forehead. She raised a hand and the bullet bounced off an invisible barrier.

            "I'm sorry!" Irvine collapsed into tears.

            Squall stood up. "Irvine Kinneas! You're shot was perfect. Don't worry. I'll handle the rest."

            He leapt down onto each level of the Residence till he was on the ground. He grabbed the nearest car, stuck his blade into the ignition to hotwire it and jammed his foot on the accelerator. The car tore through the crowd, scattering people left and right. As he approached the gates, he executed a handbrake turn, crashing into them, leaving enough of a dent to get through. He climbed up onto the float.

            "Well! This is how it turned out!" Seifer greeted him gleefully.

            "You've become the Sorceresses' lap dog." Squall just looked for a way to get Seifer to see sense and back down.

            "I prefer to be called her knight." He said simply and smiled. "This has always been my dream."

            _His romantic dream…_Squall remembered.

            "Come here Squall!" Seifer taunted. "Let me add another scar for you!"

            "I scarred you too, remember?"

            The pair of them leapt at each other, gunblades ready. They started striking and parrying. It reminded Squall of that training match, was it only 2 days ago? He spun away, and held his sword out to defend. His opponent took a low swipe towards his legs, that he easily jumped and returned with another swing of his own, which his rival avoided, but he had to back off, and returned the assault with a glare. Once again, the bout continued. Squall wasn't going to be beaten this time. Seifer got him to back off again, but this time Squall knew what was coming. He saw red energy gathering around Seifer's hand. He was preparing to use Fire magic again. Last time it had sent him flying and left him at Seifer's mercy. This time, he would not escape so easily. Instead of diving in, he jumped out the way and came in at Seifer's side. Seifer held his sword out to defend himself, but the force of Squall's trigger made him stumble and fall over. Now Seifer was in the position to be felled by Squall.

"You're losing it Seifer!"

Seifer struggled to his feet, remembering what he had done to Squall, and feeling sure Squall would return the humiliation. At that moment though, a projectile weapon came sailing through the air and knocked the blade out of Seifer's hand. In boomerang style, it returned to the person who'd launched it.

            "You left me to die!" Rinoa spat. Squall couldn't believe it. She'd followed him. "You fought for me." Rinoa told him, seeing the look on his face. "Now I'm going to fight for you."

            "Rinoa! You can't be serious! Come on…" Seifer started to protest, but Squall gave him a kick to the jaw, which sent him flying off the float.

            "How touching…" Edea looked at them. "A SeeD." She looked coldly and directly at Squall. "Planted in a run-down Garden."

            She raised her hands. Squall's feet remained flat on the floor.

            "That won't work this time." He told her.

            He summoned Carbuncle and the red light bathed them.

            "No magic either." He cocked the trigger on his gunblade

            "SeeDs think they're so elite, don't they." She cast another spell, and as the air in front of him shone with intensity with the sound of shattering, Squall realised his barrier had been blown away. "But you may still come in useful." She considered. "I'll keep you around for a while."

            She raised her hands again. A sharp icicle formed above her finger tip. She cast it at Squall and it went straight through his shoulder.

            Gasping at the cold and the pain, he staggered backwards. Everything seemed to slow down. Rinoa was shouting, calling his name, but he could hear no sound. It only took seconds, but it seemed like a whole minute that he fell off the float. Edea stepped up behind Rinoa, and he saw it all. Falling down, all he could do was watch as Rinoa held her hand out to try and stop him from falling and behind her, Edea's cold stare. His vision narrowed so that all he could see was Rinoa's face desperately calling his name in what seemed to him like utter silence. Then he blacked out.


	16. Changes

16. Changes

            "Uncle Laguna! There's someone here to see yoo."

            Laguna looked down at the little girl, fresh-faced and innocent, only about 5 years old who'd delivered the message. He was confused. The only people he knew were in Winhill, the town where he'd settled. No-one he'd ever known outside of Winhill even knew he was here.

            "Huh? Me? What's this person look like?"

            "He was wearin' funny clothes. He's tawking to Raine right now."

            "He's at the pub?"

            "Yup! That's why I came to get yoo Uncle Laguna! Am I a good girl?"

            "No, you're not!" He scolded. "It's dangerous to be out there by yourself. What if a monster comes and attacks you?"

            "It's only next door! It's ok!" she laughed.

            "It's still dangerous!" He was concerned. All the men and young boys in the town had been conscripted to fight in the war. And without the ability to defend herself, the peaceful town of Winhill  had become a favourite target for monsters looking for food.

            "And since you're such a cute little girl, the monsters will especially be after you! They'll catch you and suck your blood out!" He snarled and then ruffled her hair. The he pouted. "If anything like that should happen, Uncle Laguna's gonna cry…"

            The girl laughed. "I'll be ok. I'll just call yoo Uncle Laguna! You'll come rescue me, right?" And with that, she sped off.

            "H-Hey! Ellone! Wait!" Laguna called after her.

            He ran down the stairs after her, and sure enough, she'd waited.

            "I waited! Am I a good girl?"

            He knelt down and ruffled her hair again. "Yes! A good girl!" He walked over to the window and looked out over the fields. Ellone set her hair straight.

            "Dear Ellone's father and mother, Ellone's been a good girl today." He said as if in prayer for her dead parents, so they could know how their little girl was getting on. He looked over to her. "Right?"

            "Yup!" she agreed, and they both went over to the pub.

            "You went out by yourself, didn't you?" Raine looked at Ellone.

            "Yes." Ellone looked even smaller than usual.

            "It's dangerous out there. What do you think Laguna's working here for? You understand, don't you?" she looked sternly at Ellone.

            "Yes." Ellone looked at her feet.

            "Good. Now go to your room and play." She walked off over to the bar.

            "I got in twouble." Ellone looked at Laguna.

            "That's 'cause you broke your promise." He grinned at her. "Too baaaaaaaad."

            "Laguna! Use proper English when speaking to Ellone!" Raine reprimanded him.

            "I got'n trouble." Laguna whispered to Ellone.

            "Toooooo baaaaaaad!" She sang and they both laughed. Raine just looked at them and sighed.

            "It's been a while Laguna!" Another figure spoke to him and walked from the other side of the room where he had been watching.

            "Kiros!!" Laguna was delighted. So he hadn't been the only survivor of the Centra incident. Ellone looked over at him.

            "It's Uncle Laguna's friend." He told her. "He dresses funny, but he's not a bad guy." And indeed, Kiros' attire of all red with gold plating here and there could hardly be described as standard.

            Kiros just laughed. "You seem well." He smiled. He was happy to see that his friend seemed to be healthy and happy.

            "Yeah… You too!" Laguna was also pleased. He thought they were all going to die after the two of them had been injured severely and he'd fallen off the cliff face. It seemed ages ago now. "How long was it? You know, our grand escape from Centra?"

            Kiros laughed. "One would usually call that being chased out. Well, I'd say it was about a year, maybe a year and a half ago? We spent a long time in hospital."

            "I was bed-ridden for over 6 months." Laguna agreed. "It seemed like every bone in my body was in pieces."

            "I nursed him back to health." Raine put in her part.

            "Thank you." Kiros smiled at her. "I recovered quicker than that at least. Ever since then… I've been searching for you."

            "Why?"

            "Because you're my friend!" Kiros smiled. "And after leaving the army, I wanted to have something to do. Life's pretty boring without you as entertainment."

            "Hey! That's harsh!" Laguna grinned. "I've been leading a productive life here you know!"

            "I think I know what you mean." Raine looked at the two friends.

            "It's just not the same without our old trio you know." Kiros looked nostalgic. That reminded him of something else. Kiros had said 'we' when he talked about his stay in hospital. Did that mean…?"

            "What happened to Ward?" he asked Kiros.

            "Ward? He survived too and quit the army along with me. You probably don't remember. One of the men on the boats dragged us on board and took us back to Galbadia. We couldn't find you though. But when the Army told me you hadn't been reported dead, I just knew you had to be still alive." He paused for breath. "But Ward, he's found a job. He's a janitor at the D-District Prison."

            Laguna laughed. "Can't picture him mopping floors, but I'm glad he's doing well." He was overjoyed in truth. To find out that both of his friends survived was better than he could've hoped for.

            "He lost his voice though." Kiros told him. "Can't say a word. But you can tell what he wants from his facial expressions."

            "That's bad." Laguna felt sorry for him. But he wasn't surprised at that bit of information. Kiros could read people like a book.

            "Any other news from Galbadia?" he asked vaguely and was proved right. Kiros instantly knew what he was getting at.

            "You mean Julia?" he grinned knowingly at his friend. "I don't know to be honest."

            Raine seemed to though. "Do you mean Julia Heartilly, the singer?"

            "Yeah, that's right." Kiros was surprised. "Laguna really admired her and always frequented the nightclub."

            "Shut up!" Laguna looked meaningfully at his friend. "So what if I did?"

            "Julia used to sing at a nightclub?" Raine pressed.

            "No, she just played the piano." Kiros told her.

            "Then, the first song she released was 'Eyes On Me'?"

            Eyes On… It couldn't be…

            "H-How does the song go?" Laguna had tried to shut Kiros up a second ago, but now he had to know.

            "You don't know?"

            "Well, you never let me hear it."

            "I didn't think you listened to music." Raine explained. "The song's about being in love. I really like it. I heard she recently got married, but I think the song's about someone she loved before."

            "Married?" Laguna asked. This was not what he wanted to hear.

            "Yeah, to some army General. Caraway, I think his name was."

            "But the song?" Laguna pressed.

            "I read in a magazine that her true love went off to war and never came back. She said she wrote the song after talking to him, but then he was called away. Caraway comforted her whilst she was feeling down. That's how they got to know each other."

            "So she didn't wait for the soldier to come back?" Kiros knew how Laguna must be feeling.

            "So what? Who cares?" Laguna wanted to break away from this topic. It was too much for him. She'd told him she could write a song, because his eyes had given her inspiration that night. And that song was now a hit for her. And he was her true love? He'd been surprised when she'd asked him to her room, but this… And now she obviously thought he was dead. But he was comforted by one thing.

            "As long as she's happy, right? That's all that matters." He noticed someone at his feet. "Ain't that right Elle?"

            "Right!" she answered from beneath the bar. "Uncle Laguna and Raine are…"

            "AAHHHHHH!" Laguna cut her off. "OK, enough about this. I got some work to do."

            "…OK" Kiros was puzzled.

            "So what's your plan?" Laguna asked him. "You're gonna stick around here for a bit?"

            "Would that be ok?" Kiros would quite like to.

            "You work for what you eat." Raine told him. "If that's fine by you, you're more than welcome."

            "Cool. You can be my assistant then." Laguna told him.

            "Sure." It was fine by him.

            "Well, let's go then." They headed out.

            "Come back soon!" Ellone told him.

            "Laguna… I have a simple question." Kiros asked him as they stepped outside. "What exactly do you do here?"

            "It's like this." Laguna started to explain. "All the working men in this town have been conscripted. I was exempt because I was injured in the army. But Esthar are getting more vicious."

            "They're ruled by a sorceress." Kiros agreed. "Who knows what they're up to?"

            "They're looking for kids for their research. In particular, a successor for Adel to give her powers to when she passes away."

            "What do you mean?" Kiros was puzzled.

            "Before a sorceress can die, she must pass her powers on to someone else. But it's not as simple in this case. Adel wants to pass her entire being onto someone else, that way, she can live forever. They tried to kidnap Ellone, and her parents died trying to protect her. That's why Raine looks after her now.

            "But anyway, back to business. I'm exempt from conscription, because the army owes me one."

            "It's the same with me and Ward." Kiros told him. "After the Centra incident, we're exempt from conscription too."

            "Right!" Laguna agreed. "So the only people left in town are old people, children, women, cats, dogs and chocobos. And I'm sure you've noticed, the monsters have made their way into town."

            "Yeah, I had to kill a couple that attacked me on my way in." Kiros agreed. "I though it was strange; monsters don't usually approach towns."

            "It's because it's so deserted." Laguna explained. "This town took real good care of me. I'm not a soldier, but I know how to fight, so I agreed to protect them. It's mainly hunting monsters, but generally, a patrol."

            "You're kind of like a policeman?" Kiros thought he understood.

            "Sort of. There are a couple of soldiers stationed here, but they're only on the lookout for Esthar soldiers, they don't care about the monsters. I make a couple of patrols a day. Kill any monsters I see, and that's basically it. It's working, there's less each day, I think they're starting to be repelled now. But also, just help out anyone in need."

            "Fair enough." It seemed simple enough to Kiros.

            They strolled peacefully along to the edge of town with each of them filling in the other one of details that had happened since Centra. They ran into a couple of monsters, but they were only weak ones, Bite Bugs and Catercherpillars. One shot from Laguna's gun would be enough to finish them, and with both Laguna AND Kiros fighting, they stood no chance.

            "OK, patrol complete." Laguna announced as they reached the edge of town. "We're to report to the commander and asst. commander."

            "Commander? You mean that woman at the pub?"

            "Her name's Raine. Raine, OK?" Laguna was a tad annoyed. "She saved my life. And the asst. commander is Ellone." He added unnecessarily.

            Kiros grinned. "She seems like a really nice person. But easily taken in by a hotshot!"

            "…A hotshot? That's not fair!" Laguna grinned back.

            "So you do this patrol thing everyday?" Kiros asked as they began to walk back.

            "What do you mean 'thing'?" Laguna asked, a little hurt. He was taking it seriously.

            "Well, weren't you aiming to become a world-travelling journalist?" Kiros reminded him. "Have you heard of 'Timber Maniacs'? I had a talk with the chief editor. He says he's interested in articles related to world travel. Also articles related to what soldiers have seen in the war. Sounds perfect, doesn't it?"

            "Yeah! That's great!" Laguna agreed.

            "Well, why don't you go and talk to him?" Kiros pressed.

            "Y-Yeah…" Laguna didn't sound so keen this time. "Um, it'd be ok if we stayed here a little longer, right?"

            "You need time to gather more material?" Kiros asked. "This seems like a really nice town." He smiled. "You're gonna write about this place first, aren't you?"

            "No way!" Laguna disagreed. "Can't make this place famous. Too much publicity and you get all those tourists and stuff." Once again, Kiros read him like a book.

            "You're scared someone might come and take Raine away, aren't you?"

            "Huh?" Laguna went on the defensive.

            "I noticed you trying to get me to stop talking about how much you liked Julia." He sighed. As one of his oldest friends, he could definitely tell something. "Laguna, you've changed man."

            "Maybe. Perhaps I'm finally growing up." He looked up and sighed. "It feels like a little family unit, you know. Even if I am 'Uncle Laguna', I feel like dad, with Raine as mum and then little Elle. I feel like this is what I've been after all this time." He sighed again. "I get scared sometimes, you know. I get scared of waking up somewhere else. Scared of not seeing Ellone…"

            "Scared of not seeing Raine?" Kiros added.

            "I've never felt like this before. It feels strange somehow."

            Kiros nodded. It was a new side to the bumbling, fun-loving, carefree Laguna he'd been travelling with in the army for years.

            They arrived back at the pub, but no-one was there. Laguna figured they must be upstairs. He started to make his way up, when he heard them talking and stop.

            "What's wrong?" Kiros whispered to Laguna.

            "Girl talk… Let's come back later." He whispered back.

            Kiros grinned. "Something tells me to listen…"

            "Raine, aren't yoo gonna marry Uncle Laguna?" Ellone was asking.

            "A guy like that?" Raine raised her eyebrow. "He was carried in here, crying like a baby, and I was the one who had to take care of him. I don't know about him really. He used to say he had high aspirations as a journalist, but… Well, everytime I try to have a serious conversation with him, he avoids it…"

            "He's really nice!" Ellone leapt to his defence. "I really, really like him! Raine, Uncle Laguna and Elle should all be together!"

            Laguna liked that little image. So, it seemed, did Raine.

            She sighed. "…You know. Well, I think he really wants to travel the world. He's used to a fun-loving lifestyle, in the big city. A little town like this…" She knelt down to Ellone. "Ellone, I know we're both really fond of him, but we can't kid ourselves that he's going to stay in Winhill forever."

            "Yoo don't like him?" Ellone asked quietly.

            She sighed again. "I feel the same as you Ellone, but…"

            Laguna decided to make his presence known.

            "Yea! You're back!" Ellone ran over to him.

            Laguna puffed, acting out of breath, as though he'd just run up the stairs and hadn't just heard any of the conversation.

            "Are you hungry?" Raine asked both of them. She headed downstairs. "I'll go put some food on. I'll call you when it's ready."

            "Let's eat! Let's all eat together!" Ellone jumped out of her seat. "Are you joining us Mr. Kiros?"

            Kiros looked at the little girl and smiled.

            "Wouldn't miss it for the world!"

            "We have me and Raine and Uncle Laguna and Mr. Kiros." Ellone ran after Raine to help her. Laguna watched them go and smiled. This felt like home to him now.


	17. Seifer's Revenge

17. Seifer's Revenge

            "Welcome back Zell. The 'dream world' again?" Quistis noticed him get up.

            "Uh huh." He nodded.

            "How's Laguna doing?" Selphie asked him.

            "Dunno. Didn't see him." Zell shrugged, then scratched his head. "It's not like I know everything about Ward, but… Well, you know Laguna and company went to that Centra place and got in a real fix?"

            "Yeah." Selphie nodded.

            "I don't know what the fix was exactly, but I know you all thought they were dead. Well Ward at least survived, even though he's lost his voice permanently and he's been all alone ever since. He's working in some kind of prison and he's bored outta his mind! All he wants is to be fighting alongside Laguna."

            "So what is this we're experiencing?" Quistis really wanted to know now. "Between us, this has happened 3 times now. It isn't just a dream, that much is obvious, so what is it?"

            "How the hell should I know!?" Zell was just as baffled as the rest of them. He stopped to take a look at their surroundings. They were in a feature-less metal room with one bolted door. He sighed at the frustration of it. The Dream World had never been convenient at the best of times. But this one took some beating. After they'd dropped the gates in the arch, they were waiting for Squall and Irvine to do their bit. He'd passed out and gone to the dream world then woken up to find out he was obviously in prison. Quistis and Selphie were with him. So was Rinoa. He was confused about this, he thought she'd stayed at her father's whilst all this was going on. But of Squall and Irvine, there was no sign. Had they escaped?

            "What happened?" He asked.

            "You passed out in the arch." Quistis told him. "Some Galbadian soldiers came and arrested us. We were cornered, and there was no way we could fight our way out. Especially since you were asleep."

            "The sorceress blocked Irvine's shot." Rinoa informed them her news. "Squall went in for the attack, but she defeated him. She drove a bolt of Ice through his shoulder." She trembled as she remembered the awful scene of Squall falling from the float. "I was so worried about him, I didn't even think about trying to escape when they came for us. Squall was unconscious, so he couldn't do anything either. Seifer was loving it." She spat.

            "SEIFER?" Zell stood up in shock.

            "He's alive?" Selphie was equally surprised.

            Rinoa nodded. "The sorceress didn't arrest him. I don't know if he's under her spell or what, but he's her bodyguard now or something."

            "Oh, well that's just great!" Zell sat back down again. "So, what do we do now?"

            "Well, since we're prisoners, aren't we supposed to break loose?" Selphie had been reading too many books.

            "How Selphie?" Quistis asked patiently.

            Rinoa had a thought. "Zell, you said that guy, Ward, that you were in in the dream world, was from Galbadia, right?"

            "Yeah." Zell nodded.

            "And he was working in a prison?"

            "Yeah." Zell nodded again.

            She looked at him dead in the eye now. "Think!" she said firmly. "Was it the D-District Prison? Because that's where they've taken us to."

            Zell was stunned. He looked around. He DID recognise the design of the cell. He ran over to the bars in the door and looked out.

            "I know this place!" he shouted in a fit of excitement. "Rinoa's right. This is the prison Ward works at! He's a janitor here!"

            "It's the only major prison in Galbadia." Rinoa informed them. "The D-District Prison. It's mainly a prison for political activists. I think that's what we come under after trying to assassinate the Sorceress." She slumped. "This is the third time we've gone up against the president in three days. I don't think they'll be very happy with us. But…" she trailed off. "Deling's dead now." She remembered. "The Sorceress killed him…"

            "What does this mean?" Selphie was worried now.

            "I dunno, but things don't look so good." Zell admitted. They sat in silence for a while all thinking of what their prospects were. Soon, the door opened and three soldiers walked in.

            Zell stood up. "What's going on?" he demanded. "Where's Squall?"

            "Shut up!" the guard looked menacingly at him. "Don't screw around with me!"

            Zell tried not to laugh. This man was a typical sad case of a man totally unsuited to his job. He liked to think he was the tough nut of the prison, but it was obvious the poor man was shitting himself. He was trying to look menacing, but his eyes were scared and his hands were trembling over his gun.

            "You know who's in charge here don't you?" He tried to scare them again. Zell did what he knew would scare the poor man first. He squared up to him. But he forgot the man was not alone. He felt a club land on the back of his head and he fell to the floor. Knowing he was powerless, the guard started kicking him, then his friends joined in, mercilessly kicking at Zell who was desperately trying to fight his way up. Rinoa couldn't take it much longer.

            "Stop it!" she cried.

            "Oh, I almost forgot." The guard remembered why he'd come in here in the first place. "Is there a Rinoa in here?" He looked at them all. Rinoa decided it was best not to argue.

            "I'm Rinoa." She stepped over to him.

            "Then come over here. The guards started to lead her away.

            "Whaddya doing to Rinoa you bastards!?" Zell stumbled to his knees. The man kicked him again.

            "It's ok. I'll go." Rinoa didn't know what they would do to her, but she couldn't stand seeing her friends being bullied like this. They led her away.

            Squall, meanwhile had also woken up. He was in a tiny room with a bed and a small amount of floor space. He held his head and sat up, piecing together the events. He'd gone up against Edea and she'd driven…

            He felt his shoulder and pulled away his clothes to make sure he wasn't mistaken. He wasn't. There was no wound there. Not even a slight reddening…

            He shook his head. She was a Sorceress. There'd be some accounting for this somewhere. But he'd passed out at the pain, he remembered that much. He'd dreamt of Laguna. Had it been the dream world? Or just delirium?

            The ground started to shake and it felt as if his room was moving. There was a rumbling noise as he felt it being dragged up. Was he in a lift of some sort? He fell to his knees as the room stopped moving and the door opened.

            "Squall, you're pitiful!" Seifer leered down at him. He pulled him up by the hair and looked at his rival, now at his mercy. He couldn't help but smile gloatingly at him. "Look at you now. So powerless."

            But Squall knew one thing. "You're only so powerful because the Sorceress is protecting you. I beat you in the fight." Seifer's smile vanished and he threw Squall down.

            "Take him away!" he shouted to the guards outside.

            The guards arrived and Squall stared in surprise at them. They weren't human. They ran in on four legs, even though they could stand and walk on two. They had fire-red fir with spiky manes and faces that were sad with years of torture and abuse of their kind. Squall recognised them as Moombas. He'd never actually seen them, except in books, but he knew enough about them. Pitiful animals, which could walk and had some intelligence about them, but were naturally scared and weak. This had caused them to be perfectly selected for humans to keep as slaves to do the work they didn't want to dirty their hands with. Squall could tell they didn't want to be leading him away, but they were driven by fear of Seifer and more so of the Sorceress. They led him to a small room, where he was strapped to a wall and bound, with his arms outstretched as if he was being crucified and raised up about 5 feet off the floor.

            "I'm sure you can imagine what happens now." Seifer looked up at him.

            Squall tried to struggle, but the bonds round his wrists and ankles were too tight. He knew he was going to be tortured. "What do you want?"

            Seifer raised his gunblade and pointed it at Squall. "Tell me what SeeD is. Edea demands to know."

            Squall stared at him as if he was stupid. "SeeD?" The man had been in Garden with him as long as he could remember… "Don't you know? What have you spent all your life trying to accomplish? Did you never KNOW what Garden was for? SeeD are combat specialists. Mercenaries."

            "I'm not a SeeD." Seifer shrugged and looked up at Squall, a sick smile on his face. "Come on, Squall, don't play me for a fool. There MUST be SOME kind of secret you're given when you become a SeeD!"

            "There's nothing!" Squall spoke the truth. "If there was, do you not think you'd have found out already? Someone would have let it slip! The students would all know the reason they were there. And even IF there was AND no-one had told the students before, what makes you think I'd tell you now?"

            Seifer glared at him in contempt. "You're on my tough-nut-to-crack list! I didn't think you'd talk that easily."

            Squall remembered. The list. The one he'd told Raijin and Fujin to add Quistis to when she'd wished him luck.

            "I'm honoured." Squall replied with his trademark coldness.

            "Well, let me show you the alternative." Seifer clicked his fingers at a stocky guard in the corner, who instantly threw a switch.

            Electric current surged through Squall's body. He felt as if he were burning.

            "AARRRGHHHH!" He screamed at the pain. In the corner the moombas looked down and avoided his gaze, their faces pained with sorrow. The guard released the switch and Squall's body sagged.

            "Give in Squall!" Seifer jeered. "How much of that do you think you can take?"

            "Try me!" Squall glared at him in defience. In his mind, he altered his Junction Pathways. He knew he couldn't summon a GF in here; the space was too small. Plus he could feel there was an anti-magic barrier around the place. In any case, trying to summon with a current raging through his body would be impossible. Nevertheless, he focused on the protect spells he knew, and junctioned them to the GF guarding him, and providing him with vitality, to increase his endurance. It wouldn't stop the pain, but it would dampen it; he wasn't going to give Seifer the glory without a fight.

            "I know you're tough." Seifer went on. "But do you really want to suffer that much? Even if you can hack it, others couldn't. If you don't tell me, somebody else will. The instructor, the little messenger-girl." He laughed. "And that Chicken-wuss wouldn't last 3 seconds!"

            _Quistis, Selphie… Zell… They've got them too? _"They're all here?" he gasped.

            "Oh, sure!" Seifer crowed. He was loving this now. "But since I like you so much, I thought you could go first!"

            He stepped round the room, half dancing, manic with power. He spread his arms in triumph. "Oh, I was so hoping you'd be there!" Seifer spoke with all the regality one can only accomplish in gloating to someone powerless before them. "So tell me! How did I look in my moment of triumph? My childhood dream, fulfilled. The Sorceress' knight!"

            Squall laughed with all the courage one can only muster when they know they have no hope anyway. "Triumph?" He laughed mockingly back. "You lost the fight remember? Rinoa, your former girlfriend, spat at you, and spoke to you with pure hatred. Before that, you had her love. She knocked your gunblade out of your hand and I sent you flying off the float." He paused for breath. He knew he was hitting Seifer where it hurt most. "You lost the fight, your pride, your dignity and the love you once had. I'd hardly call it a triumph. And this knight business? A fine knight you made, failing to defend your master. She was victorious over me; she didn't even need you! And now you've just been relegated to a torturer. A sadist, revelling in the misery of others, who he must make to feel below himself. Look how low you've sunk Seifer. You had so much, and now you've lost it all."

            Seifer was furious. "Shut up! I've not lost a thing! I've gained! I've fulfilled my dream. I have more power and glory than I've ever had! And I will have all the more once I get you to talk."

            He clicked his fingers again, and once more, the current surged through his body, until Seifer clicked his fingers.

            "Well now, Squall. Are you ready to talk? What is SeeD and why do they oppose the Sorceress?"

            "Oppose the Sorceress? If you're talking about the assassination, we were hired. SeeDs are mercenaries for hire, and we were hired to kill the Sorceress."

            Seifer smiled. "Oh no, Squall, you can't fool me. That order came from both Balamb AND Galbadia Gardens. Two Gardens making an order to kill the Sorceress? There must be some reason, and Edea demands to know!"

            "SeeDs don't question the nature of their mission." Squall simply informed him.

            "Alright Squall, be like that, but just know, there are missiles being prepared to target Garden. Trabia will be first. Then, Balamb will be destroyed as well. You can watch the whole thing."

            "Why?" Squall was horrified.

            "They are being destroyed on charges of training SeeDs to oppose the Sorceress." Seifer informed him.

            "But Balamb and Trabia! They're not under Galabadian rule. You can't just fire long-range missiles at other countries!" Squall could scarcely believe what he was hearing.

            "Oh Squall, you don't know what we can do. Galbadia is the most powerful nation in the world! We can do what we like! The only other country to stand a chance against us would be Esthar, but they're isolated from the world. You know they don't even care for what goes on outside their borders."

Squall sagged. That much was true.

"It's a pity though. I did grow up in Balamb. But…" Seifer shrugged. "Orders are orders and Edea wants it destroyed."

"No…" Squall was on the point of breaking.

"After the Garden's gone, the SeeD hunt will begin." Seifer continued mercilessly. "I'll be Edea's bloodhound and hunt out every one of your kind."

He turned to the guard. "Continue with the interrogation." And walked out the room.

The guard was a little nervous. Squall felt more comfortable now. This guard didn't know him and didn't have the power that Seifer did over him.

"Ready to talk?" he asked.

"Ask Seifer. He knows what SeeD is." He said simply.

"No!" the guard was frustrated. Seifer was meant to be doing this bit. "Edea says you know something. You in particular, Squall Leonhart! Now spit it out! What is SeeD all about?"

"Mercenaries. Elite special forces from Garden!"

"And what else?" The guard demanded. "What else do you know?"

"I only know one other thing right now."

"Yes? What is it?" The guard got closer now, believing he'd done it.

"Your breath stinks!" Squall laughed as the guard threw the switch again and he passed out cold.

            Selphie had already discovered the anti-magic barrier when trying to cure Zell. He wished she hadn't tried. He was feeling better already, after getting his breath back.

            "It's no use." Quistis told her. "There must be an anti-magic field."

            The door opened, and a moomba walked in, carrying a plate of food. He stumbled over and the plate went flying.

            "You idiot." A guard walked in and kicked the moomba, who squealed in pain. Zell decided he'd had enough.

            "Hey! Who do you think you are?" Zell squared up to him, this time ready to defend himself.

            "Yeah, you big MEANIE!" Selphie backed him up.

            The guard swung his club at Zell, who caught it and held the man in a wristlock. Releasing him, the man stumbled back and looked at the three of them, who were obviously in no mood for games.

            "You'll regret that!" he ran from the room.

            "You ok?" Selphie turned to the moomba, who nodded.

            "Now what?" Zell was getting frustrated.

            "We can't stay here. We'll be tortured for sure." Selphie moaned.

            "She's right. We've got to think of how to get out of here." Quistis agreed.

            "Anyone got a plan though?" Zell was exasperated. This was torture in itself.

            "It's hopeless." Quistis sighed. "We can't use magic, and we have no weapons."

            _Weapons_? Zell's sat up. He was a martial artist! Fists, legs, head; all his weapons were right here!.

            "I'll do it!" he announced. "I'll get the weapons back!"

            "Oh yeah!" Selphie remembered. "You worked here as Ward! You know the place!"

            _Not really_, thought Zell. _All Ward did was mop the floors_. But still…

            "You two lie down." He ordered them. "Pretend you're unconscious."

            "Guard! Guard!" He yelled. "We need some help! Open the door."

            "What's the problem?" The guard was suspicious.

            "It's a snake!" Zell bluffed. "It bit the women, they're unconscious."

            The guard opened the door slightly. He realised they were trying the oldest trick in the book, but he hadn't reckoned on Zell's skills. He tried to bar the way, but Zell gave him two swift blows to the upper and lower parts of his head, sending the man staggering back. The design of the prison was cylindrical, with a hole leading right down to the bottom, and walkways spiralling along the edge. He beat the man back further, before executing a perfect somersault kick, lifting the man off his feet and sending him down the pit to meet his doom at the bottom. Two more guards ran up to apprehend him. He grabbed the first one, stuck his foot into his stomach, lay down on his back and threw him backwards to join his friend. He then got to his feet in time to see the third swinging at him with his club. He caught it, twisted it out of his grip and smashed it into the man's face knocking him out cold.

            The moomba ran out of the cell and squeaked, clearly meaning Zell to follow him. He remembered the layout of the prison and knew where he was going. Sure enough, after following the moomba for several minutes, he found a room with 'Private – Confiscation Room' written on it. He smashed it down, and sure enough once more, inside was a guard with a lot of confiscated equipment in it, including the weapons.

            "Hey! What are…" was all the guard inside managed to say before Zell's fist was buried in his face and he lay unconscious on the floor. Grabbing the weapons, Zell ran all the way back to the cell and handed the weapons over to the others.

            Squall was starting to come round as he felt something tugging at his leg. He was dazed and confused now.

            "Laguna!" a voice squeaked.

            _Ah, the dream world again._

            "Laguna!" the voice squeaked again.

            Then he realised he wasn't asleep. He could feel something tugging on both legs.

            "Laguna!!!" the voices were insisting.

            He managed to open his eyes and saw that the guard was gone. There were three moombas in the room. One was standing on another one's shoulders, so he could reach, and was tugging at his legs. Once they saw him awake, he leapt off, and all three stared up at him in expectance.

            "I don't understand…" he was still groggy.

            "Laguna! Laguna!" they all started jumping up and down. One of them ran off and another pulled a switch. He felt the bonds break and he fell to the floor. They'd released him? The third looked at him anxiously.

            "Laguna!" There could be no mistake, they were talking to him. It seemed that was all they could say, but…

            "Laguna?" He looked up at them puzzled. Did they mean the same man they'd seen in the dream world? Did they think HE was Laguna? He tried to stand up, but his legs were still too weak. The two moombas rushed to his aid.

            Biggs was not a happy man. After the incident with the SeeDs a few days ago, he'd been demoted to Lieutenant and re-stationed at the D-District Prison, with the job of sorting out un-cooperative prisoners. Well he was miserable now, and he had some to sort out. That sort of cheered him up. He could take it all out on them, make them so sorry…

            "Is this the cell?" he asked the guard.

            "That's the one. Give 'em something to REALLY complain about." The guard grinned.

            "Should we be picking on prisoners so soon after being transferred here?" his assistant Wedge was uncertain.

            "Just be quiet and let me handle this!" He walked into the cell. "AAHHHHH!" It was the SeeDs who'd got him demoted! This was even better. Now he could REALLY get some vengeance. He smiled. "So, we meet again! Now I'll teach you a lesson!" He snarled at them. "I know it might seem cowardly to fight unarmed prisoners…"

            He broke off as Quistis and Selphie flourished their weapons. Zell went into stance. The guard ran from the room.

            "They're fully armed sir." Wedge said, a little unnecessarily.

            "H-How?" Biggs was shocked. Hadn't the guards even confiscated their weapons? But he was determined. "Ah well, let's get 'em Wedge."

            Wedge was instantly knocked unconscious with a blow from Selphie's nun-chaku. Biggs went the same way at the hands of Zell.

            "I can't kill 'em." Zell grinned. "It just wouldn't be right." In a fit of giggles, they all ran out the room.

            "Don't think you can just walk out…" Biggs activated the alarm just before he collapsed.

            Once outside they all looked round, wondering where to go next. All of a sudden, another moomba came running down towards them.

            "Laguna!" he called to the one with the trio.

            "Laguna!?" the other one replied and they both head off upwards.

            "Follow those moombas." Zell decided.

            "Laguna?" Selphie was puzzled.

            "I don't know why, but I feel kinda lucky." Zell grinned. Ward worked here. Laguna was here as well, by the sounds of things. Did Ward and Laguna know about them? Would they help them escape?

            All of a sudden, the alarm siren sounded.

            "**WARNING! ESCAPEE ALERT. CURRENTLY ON FLOOR 7. IF ESCAPPE REFUSES TO SURRENDED, YOU HAVE PERMISSION TO KILL!**"

            "Dammit!" Zell's parade had been well and truly rained on. But there was nothing they could do about it, so they opted to follow the moombas. They carried on running. They knew they would have some time before the guards located them, or even before enough of them could be summoned to truly challenge them.

            After it seemed like they'd been running forever, they reached the top of the building. There they found a door with about 6 moombas standing outside.

            "Laguna! Laguna!" they were all chanting. They parted to let the group through and the one nearest opened the door for them.

            Inside, they found Squall sitting against the wall, with another 3 moombas all tending to him.

            "Squall!" Zell was so relieved. "You OK?"

            "It was hell…" he admitted. He was so relieved to see them as well. His body still felt burned and drained from his electric shock torture.

            "Let's just get outta here." Zell nodded.

            An idea hit Squall. "I went to the dream world." He told them. "Laguna, Kiros and Ward are alive and Kiros said…"

            "I know! I was Ward in the dream. He was working here." Zell finished off for him.

            "Mmmm." Squall nodded.

            "Does that mean he's here?" Selphie wondered.

            "Somewhere, I guess." Zell shrugged. He handed Squall his gunblade. Squall sheathed it. He wasn't ready for combat just yet. He wanted to get out of here ASAP.

            "But anyway…" Zell continued. "If we have to get to the bottom, I know how to get down there."

            He led them to the cell where Squall had been contained. "This is like a crane, that can carry a detachable cell from downstairs." He told them.

            "So this hole goes right down to the bottom?" Selphie realised.

            "Yep. If we get inside, then we can take it to the bottom. I remember Ward doing it. I know how to use it." He went for his hero moment. "Quistis, Selphie, you get Squall outside. I'll stay and operate the panel."

            "But Zell, that means…"

            "I know. Don't worry about me. Everyone get inside."

            "Be careful Zell." Quistis told him.

            They climbed inside, and they felt the cell move as Zell manoeuvred the cell downstairs to safety. At the bottom, they climbed out, and sure enough, there was a door there. But when they opened it…

            "Sand?" Squall was shocked. They were at the very bottom of the prison. That could only mean…

            "Buried? You mean we're underground?" Quistis slumped. Zell was at the top, he couldn't bring them back up without any way of contacting him. They were stuck at the bottom with no means of escape, other than to go straight up the prison. They were trapped. All of a sudden, they heard gunfire above.

"Seize the escapee! Dead or alive!"

            Zell had been working his way back down, but now, he had been caught. There were a LOT of soldiers chasing him now. They'd ordered backup and there would be more coming his way. Worse still, they'd come from below, forcing him to head back up. He encountered one guard whom he'd thrown over the edge, but he couldn't keep it up. Not if more kept coming.

            He ran up the next set of stairs to find a guard waiting there, gun pointed to his head. He had no choice but to back down. He was in a fix now. He couldn't run away, or advance on the man without being shot. He knelt down, ready to surrender.

            As if from nowhere, Squall leapt through the air, gunblade at the ready and sliced the guard in two.

            "Didn't think he'd go down so easily." Squall looked down at the corpse.

            "Squall! Thanks man!" he grabbed hold of him.

            "Knock it off Zell." Squall tapped him on the head with the handle of his gunblade.

            Quistis and Selphie came running after him.

            "You guys ok?" Quistis asked. Zell nodded.

            "Squall, why did you go on your own?" Selphie asked him. "Is Zell that important to you?" she teased.

            Before he could answer, a round of gunfire opened up on them from the other side of the pit. They took cover below the wall.

            "Shit! There's no way we can get outta here with this going on!" Zell panicked.

            All of a sudden, there was the sound of another gun and the fire on the opposite side of them ceased.

            "What's happening?" Selphie whispered. The silence was worse than the gunfire.

            "Someone shot them all." Quistis whispered back.

            "Yeah, but who?"

They all looked up to see Irvine standing at the top of the stairs, his gun smoking.


	18. Irvine's Redemption

18. Irvine's Redemption

            Irvine walked down the stairs slowly towards them, a smile on his face and his gun held over his shoulder. He winked at Selphie as he descended.

            "Stop trying to act so cool!" Rinoa shoved him down the stairs, causing him to tumble down and crash into the perimeter wall around the pit, thoroughly ruining his entrance. She looked at him crossly. "If you'd just agreed with me earlier, we wouldn't be in this mess!"

            The other four walked over to join them.

            "Squall!" Rinoa's face lit up as she saw them and she skipped down the stairs towards them.

            "Rinoa! You're ok!" Quistis was relieved.

            "Uh huh!" Irvine picked himself up off the floor. "Of course! Courtesy of my escort!"

            Zell eyed him suspiciously. "What's that supposed to mean?"

            "Well, you see I…"

            "My father pulled some strings with the military." Rinoa cut him off. "He told them to get me, and only me, out."

            "Right." Agreed Irvine. "So then…"

            "So this guy here…" She carried on, not letting Irvine cut in. "He came and got me. Just me!" she feigned shock. "Knowing you were all still inside."

            "Ahh, that's…" Irvine tried again.

            "Isn't that horrible?" she leaned towards Squall and looked at him with puppy-dog eyes.

            "Alright! Alright! Geez…" Irvine gave up trying to explain himself favourably. "I said I was sorry. That's why I'm here to help."

            "After I scratched you to death." Rinoa glared at him.

            "Yeah… Well…" Irvine was feeling awkward. "ANYWAY, now's our chance."

            Squall shook his head. "The basement door is buried in sand."

            "Of course it is." Irvine said. "This place is buried underground right now."

            "Right now…?" Zell was puzzled.

            "It's the D-District prison." Rinoa started to explain, but they were interrupted by a fresh round of gunfire from below. They all ducked for cover behind the shallow wall, except for Irvine, who hid behind the stairwell. There was a break in the fire, and Irvine chanced to look out. He saw the shooters climbing onto the wall to get a better shot. Praising their stupidity, he drew his gun and quickly picked off all the shooters as they were climbing or reloading. Within seconds, they were all dead, either from a direct shot to the head, or being knocked off the wall and meeting their deaths at the bottom of the pit. Irvine smiled at his success, but knew that more were on the way.

            "They're coming from below." he realised. "I'll hold 'em back. You take everyone else up and I'll join you."

            "Up?" Squall double-checked.

            "Rinoa will explain on the way up. But it's up there. Trust me!"

            "OK." Squall agreed. "Let's go."

            They started heading up.

            "My turn to boogie now!" Irvine grinned as he started picking off the soldiers as they arrived.

            "It's the D-District Prison." Rinoa explained as they ran. "The reason it's cylindrical is because it's inside 3 giant drills which can bury their way underground, or, if prisoners escape, it will raise itself above the ground, so they can't escape."

            "So why are we going to the top?" this made no sense to Quistis.

            "It's the only exit." Rinoa explained. "We have to hope they haven't raised it."

            "And if they have?"

            "I'll try and figure it out from what I saw with Ward." Zell offered.

            "In any case, we have to go up." Rinoa told them.

            "You mean we went all the way to the top, we were right by the exit and went back down again?" Selphie couldn't believe it.

            "Ironic, huh?" Zell raised an eyebrow.

            But sure enough, they reached the top, but this time instead of going into the torture room, they head up the final flight of stairs and outside, except…

            "DAMMIT!!" Zell cried.

            The prison had indeed been raised. It was a good 50 metres to the ground, and the sides of the building were way too smooth for them to attempt to climb down. Now the guards obviously felt they had all the time in the world to turn up and apprehend them. 

            "OK, so we've got to work out how to make it bury underground again. Rinoa said sensibly.

            "There's a control room over here." Zell told them. "It's where I went to operate the arm."

            They headed over to it.

            "So how do we do it then Zell?" Selphie didn't know where to start as far as machines were concerned.

            "I dunno…" Zell scratched his head. "Ward never used the burying mechanism."

            "So we're still stuck?" Squall sighed. Just when they thought they were home and dry as well.

            "Laguna!" A familiar voice squeaked and in rushed two moombas. They rushed over to the control panel and started pressing buttons. There was a jolt, and it seemed as if the entire prison was moving. There was a rumble, as the machinery kicked into gear, and they felt the prison descend again. Presently Irvine arrived.

            "I've held 'em back, but they're bringing up something BIG." He told them. "So I say we get out of here."

            "Go! Laguna! Go!" The moombas urged.

            "They've helped us this far." Zell shrugged. They head back to the exit, and sure enough, they were able to escape. Zell offered his final bit of advice as Ward.

            "There's a garage round here where we can find some cars."

            There were two vehicles. A large yellow truck, in the traditional colours of the Galbadian military vehicles, complete with the Galbadian Military crest emblazoned on each door, and a small blue van. Selphie opted to take the yellow one, so they all hopped in, Selphie taking the driver's seat, and they pulled out onto the dusty road that led away from the prison as fast as they could. They relaxed, as it appeared they were in the clear, but there was still one question.

            "Squall, why did those moombas call you Laguna?" Selphie asked him.

            "Hey, I remember you talking about that guy." Irvine remembered. "And earlier on I had a dream about a guy named Laguna. I was a guy called Kiros and Laguna was one of his friends."

            They all stared.

            "You too…?" Zell was beyond confused.

            "Yeah. I saw Ellone as a little kid. Like WAY before I first met her." Irvine said.

            "Wait! You know that girl Ellone OUTSIDE the dream world?" Squall was stunned.

            "Well of all the… Jeez, Squall what kind of question is THAT?" Irvine was shocked.

            "So it isn't just a dream world. These people exist." Selphie was puzzled.

            Zell turned to Squall. "Squall. You're the only one who's been to the dream world every single time. Think. What is it?"

            "Look you guys. I think I'd better…" Irvine started to speak but Squall remembered something Seifer had told him.

            "GUYS! We're in trouble. The Sorceress thinks SeeD is some kind of threat to her. She's ordered Garden to be destroyed. She's launching missiles at them!"

            They all turned to him, utter horror on all their faces.

            "The Sorceress is going to launch missiles at Garden?" Quistis managed to speak.

            They pulled up the truck on a dusty crossroad on the track.

            "Seifer told me. He was interrogating me to find out why SeeD is a threat to the Sorceress."

            "Threat to the Sorceress?" Zell didn't get it.

            "Both Gardens ordered us to assassinate her." Squall reminded her.

            "But why?"

            "I don't know." Squall admitted. "I think the only thing we can do now is go back to Garden and warn the students."

            "But which Garden?" Irvine asked. "Just one, or all of them."

            "Balamb and Trabia." Squall remembered something else. "According to Caraway, the Sorceress wants to use Galbadia Garden as her base. I think that's why Martine wanted her dead."

            "I came from Trabia!" Selphie cried out. "I've got loads of friends there. I can't let it be destroyed! We have to interfere with the launch. We have to stop the missiles!"

            "We can't go to both Gardens to warn them." Sighed Quistis. "Maybe we should split up."

            "If we can get to Balamb Garden, Cid can warn Trabia." Squall reasoned.

            "Split up then Squall." Selphie urged. "Some go to the Missile Base, some go to Garden. Who's it going to be?"

            _Easier said than done!_ Thought Squall_ What if something happens to the party members I choose?_

            Quistis sprang into action. "Technically, Squall, Selphie, Zell, now that the assassination attempt is over, you are working via your contract to Rinoa, in which case, Squall , you're still Squad Leader. I was sent to assist and to stop Seifer. Now that I've failed, I suppose I'm working with you. Squall, you decide on the party. You return to Balamb Garden as you're the leader."

            "I'll go to Balamb." Rinoa decided. "I asked you to take me somewhere safe, remember?"

            "It's not very safe if there's missiles being launched at it!" Squall argued.

            "It's safer than at the base itself." Rinoa shrugged.

            "So, what are the teams?" Quistis pressed.

            At that moment, they heard an explosion, and saw jets of smoke heading skywards from the missile base.

            "Where are they headed?" Selphie asked in desperation.

            "I heard… Seifer said, they were hitting Trabia first, then Balamb. The first shot to let us know they were serious; to try and make us talk." Squall explained helplessly. 

Selphie's face fell. "That was a miss… right…?" her eyes begged.

            "Selphie, I'm so sorry." Quistis whispered as Selphie's eyes filled with tears.

            "Please… PLEASE let everyone be ok?" she sobbed.

            "Squall, I studied the use of the missile base at Garden, it will take them at LEAST four hours before they can fire again, probably nearer five..." Irvine told him. "That gives you plenty of time to get back to Balamb and warn them. So, who are you taking?"

            They all started clamouring, for him to decide. Squall realised he'd had enough of the whole 'leader' thing. He'd be glad when his contract with Rinoa was over and someone else could be the leader. All of a sudden, Selphie stopped crying and screamed with rage.

            "I'M on the missile base team!" She insisted. "I HAVE to be. I'll make them pay for launching missiles at MY Trabia."

            "Way to go, Selphie!" Irvine encouraged. "With you all the way!"

            "You're on my team?" Selphie asked.

            "If that's ok with Squall?" Irvine turned to him. Fine by him.

            "If that's what you want, ok." He said. Then he thought, Selphie was acting with rage and Irvine was just trying to score with her. The third person had better be Quistis to keep the peace; Zell was not the best person for keeping his cool, especially not round Irvine.

            "OK. Quistis, Selphie, Irvine. You go to the missile base. Do whatever you can to stop the launch. Rinoa, Zell, you come with me back to Balamb. We'll warn everyone and try and evacuate." Squall decided. "Drop us off at the nearest train station."

            "That would be Montresau. It's a small station, only really used by the military. I think it's the feeder for the prison." Irvine gave them his knowledge of the local geography, then grinned. "They keep it a safe distance so that any escapees don't have instant getaway. Turn right down here Selphie, it's about 2 miles down the road."

            The journey was carried out in silence, as each team member was preoccupied with his or her own thoughts. But as they arrived at the station, and the Garden Team disembarked, Squall found his words "This mission is unlike any other. It's not an order, or a request from anyone. We're doing this on our own. Selphie, do you have a plan?"

            "Yeah. This is a Galbadian military vehicle, and there are some uniforms in the back. If we put them on, we should be able to make it inside. Laguna and his friends were Galbadian soldiers, so we try and remember as much of the routines; salutes and stuff from them." She paused. "After that, well, we'll have to see what's inside."

            Squall nodded. "OK. Good luck. Afterwards, if you succeed, report back to Balamb Garden." He told her.

            "OK. Good luck." They all said their farewells and Selphie and her team drove off to the missile base.

            Squall went into action.

            "Let's take that train."

            "It's a military train. We can't get tickets." Zell noticed.

            "Who said anything about tickets? We're SeeDs! Special privileges, remember?" Squall was grim-faced. He strode right up to the cab, and leapt in.

"Hey, what do you think you're…" the stunned guard started to speak, before Squall hit him and threw him out the cab, before pulling the lever to start the engine. Zell and Rinoa leapt in after him.

            "HEY! STOP! S-STOP THE TRAIN!!" There was a Galbadian soldier chasing them.

            "This guy's not bad!" Zell laughed as the guard tried to keep up with them.

            But he couldn't keep up for that long, and soon, the train sped away, leaving the poor soldier trailing.


	19. Selphie's Revenge

19. Selphie's Revenge

            It took them an hour and a half to drive to the missile base. Selphie was right. The guards on the base were pretty inept, and at one glance at them in uniform waved them through. When they were safely out of earshot, the group breathed a sigh of relief. Getting in was the essential part of the plan. Having succeeded with that, they were now free to carry out their plan.

            "When is launch time?" Quistis asked.

            "I reckon around 2 and a half hours." Irvine estimated.

            "It doesn't matter! We have to stop the missiles! That's all there is to it, right?" Selphie couldn't care less. She voiced her plan. "If there's a door, we go in. If there's anything we can break, we break it. And in the end, we blow this place to smithereens!"

            Irvine grinned. "I like your attitude Selphie!" Let's do it!"

            "OK. I'm setting my watch." Quistis said. "Estimated time of launch is T-minus 2 and a half hours. The other group, if they got on a train, should be on their way to Balamb by now; they'll arrive there in about another hour."

            The group scanned their surroundings. There was a huge wall, made of steel, easily 15 feet high surrounding the whole complex. There was a large mesh fence to the right of them, where they could see a lot of panels in the floor, which Irvine identified as the panels for the missile launchers. Directly ahead of them though, was a large brick building, only a storey high. Seeing a large door in the wall facing them, the group decided to enter. Inside, they found another 2 doors, both requiring ID card access.

            "But we don't have one!" Selphie wailed.

            "Hold on, I'll go check in the car." Irvine went back. He ran quickly, knowing time was of the essence. He flung the door open and rummaged around in the glove compartment. Sure enough, he found a keycard there, which let them into the complex.

            "That's still another 10 minutes wasted." Selphie grumbled.

            "Don't worry. I reckon we can do this place over in an hour." Irvine calculated. "Then it'll take the missiles about 2 hours to reach Balamb."

            "Well, we have two hours to complete our operation then." Said Quistis.

            They went through the door. Inside, they found a lot of hustle and bustle. Soldiers were running around frantically, as if the whips of their masters were behind them. There was the constant low rumble of machinery and conveyer belts transporting large pieces of equipment round. The group felt rather conspicuous just standing there.

            "They can't be ready for the launch yet, surely." Selphie panicked.

            "Let's take a look around." Quistis suggested.

            They walked along the corridor, and after a few metres found a door on their left, but it was guarded, so without even conversing decided to walk straight on.

            "I think we'd best leave that… for now." Selphie decided once they were out of earshot.

            They carried on up some stairs, which led up to a metal walkway above several conveyer belts, and the walkway led them to another three doors. One was guarded, but the other two weren't, so they went into the one on the left.

            There were two soldiers looking over the tracks on which missile launchers were being transported. The group knew they were in constant danger of being discovered, but they also knew if they walked straight out, it would look suspect. Plus they also had to get some information about the launch details. They decided to approach them. Before they could say anything though, the first soldier noticed them.

            "Hey, guys. We're a bit busy right now. Come back later, alright?"

            "It's not about the circuit room inspection is it?" the second one asked.

            "Ah, nuts! It's that time already?" The first one sighed. "It's the real thing today, so there's no way we have time for that." He sighed again, and turned to Selphie. "Hey, guys? Could you do us a favour? Go to the group by the missile launchers and tell them to wait and we'll catch them up? Cheers, we appreciate it."

            "What do you reckon?" Selphie asked as they walked back out.

            "Well it sounds like they're behind schedule, which is good." Quistis mulled it over. "Let's go over to that team and find out what's going on."

            They went through the second door, and sure enough, were a bunch of missile launchers. They could see that there were three there, but space for six.

            "We've got until the rest of them arrive." Irvine guessed. "From what they told us in our training, I reckon it's about half an hour per launcher."

            Selphie spied the soldier inspecting them. "S'cuse me sir." She snapped a salute. "I have a message for you!"

            "Well, what is it?" he inquired.

            "Um, it's about inspecting the circuit room. The others said they were too busy, so you should go on ahead."

            "Ah, damn!" The man looked frustrated. "I'm still not done here. The next launcher's just arrived." Sure enough, there was a low rumble, and slowly, but surely, it slid on in on a set of tracks. The guard sighed as his words were confirmed. "I've got to set it up, inspect it… Tell them I can't go just yet. Thanks, I appreciate it."

            "Selphie, we didn't just come here to deliver messages did we?" Irvine asked as they left the room.

            "Ssshhh. I've got a plan!" She told him. "It looks like either way, ONE of them has to leave their post unattended, right?"

 They went back through the other door to where the first two soldiers were waiting.

            "They said they were too busy to go too." She told them.

            "Geez, what do we do?" The first soldier looked at his companion.

            "I guess we'd better go." The second one sighed.

            "But we still have to… Hey guys…" He turned to Selphie's crew again. "Can we ask you to go?"

            "What? Hey, we can't just do that!" The second one protested. "What if the base commander finds out?"

            "It'll be ok." The first one shrugged. "All we do is go and make sure everything's up and running, anyway."

            _Gets better and better!_ Selphie thought.

            "It's fine! We'll go." Selphie assured him.

            "Well, ok." They both agreed.

            They walked back through the corridor to the first door they'd passed; the one that had been guarded.

            "S'cuse me sir!" Selphie saluted the guard there. "The maintenance team asked us to take their place with the inspection."

            "Oh really? Then I guess my shift is over!" The guard stretched. "OK, I'm off home. Go ahead guys." And he left.

            They walked in and gazed upon the main control panel, which stretched all the way along the room. There were all manner of switches, buttons and levers scattered along it.

            "This is it!" Selphie enthused. "Destroy everything!"

            And with that, they all started hitting buttons everywhere, not even knowing what they did. Random images flashed up on computer screens, the PA made strange hissing sounds. Lights flashed every colour of the rainbow, and eventually, all the lights went out.

            "Heeey! What gives?" Selphie was puzzled. Then, the backup lighting came on.

            "ELECTRICAL SYSTEM MALFUNCTION" The voice boomed over the PA. "MAINTENANCE TEAM, INVESTIGATE IMMEDIATELY."

            "It would look really bad if they found us here. We should leave now." Quistis realised.

            "Alright. NEXT!" Selphie jumped up in celebration.

            They walked out and were instantly greeted by the maintenance team.

            "Hey! What's going on in there?"

            "I TOLD you we shouldn't let 'em go." The second man moaned.

            "We just got here too." Selphie reminded him. "We have ABSOLUTELY no idea what's going on."

            "Bite your tongue! We just saw you come outta there!" The first soldier looked at her.

            "Yeah, we just took a look inside." She sighed. "I dunno anything about machines. I mean, you asked us to inspect it, but I don't know how to repair it or anything."

            "Ok then." The first soldier was satisfied by her explanation. "We'll sort it out. We shouldn't have sent you along really. Just go back to whatever job you were up to."

            "Ok, thanks." Selphie breathed a sigh of relief.

            The two guards disappeared into the circuit room. The three SeeDs all looked at each other and nodded. They ran in after them and knocked them both out cold, then left them bound and gagged so they couldn't find their way out.

            "Woo-hoo!" Selphie was fired up now. "Let's get 'em!"

            They got back to where the entrance to the missile room was, when another soldier called to them.

            "Hey, could you lend us a hand. The power's down."

            They walked into the room, to see what other mayhem had been caused and found, to their horror that the other two missile launchers had arrived.

            "For some reason, the thing was sped up, and both missile launchers arrived at once. But then the power went out. So we have to set them into place manually. Just give them a hand pushing them."

            "There's too many guards here. We can't fight them all." Quistis realised with despair.

            "Shit! We'll have to help them." Irvine cursed.

            They got behind the launcher and helped push them along the tracks until they'd set the launchers in place; if they aroused suspicion here, they'd be done for. They felt miserable as the guard announced:

            "OK! That's great! We can launch anytime." But then: "All we need to do is confirm the co-ordinates on the control panel. Can you guys do that whilst we inspect these? Then just run up to the control room and tell the guys to fire. Thanks. You've been a great help." He handed them the access card to the control panel. Selphie took it calmly, but felt like jumping for joy. Talk about the silver lining on the cloud! She had access to the control panel, AND they wouldn't launch until she went to give the command! Now she had them where she wanted them!

            "First up, the control panel." Selphie whispered to the others as they head out the room.

            "Smash it!" Irvine gave his vote.

            "Wait a minute!" Selphie gave her opinion. "Wouldn't it be a REAL bummer if WE launched the missiles by mistake. First up, we have access to it, let's see what we can change. We may be able to make the missiles splash down into the middle of the sea."

            "Good idea!" Quistis agreed.

            Selphie inserted the card and the system gave instant access. She skimmed the menu.

            'Target, Equipment, Simulation, Exit.'

            "Target, methinks!" she grinned as she selected it.

            This brought up the menu:

            'Set Target, Set Error Ratio, Upload Data, Exit."

            "See! We can make them go somewhere else!" she selected 'Set Target' and was dismayed to find that she needed higher authorisation to change it, so she selected 'Set Error Ratio'.

            "Why do they have something like that?" Irvine wondered.

            "You select 0% if you want all the missiles to hit one concentrated point." Quistis explained. "The higher the Error Ratio, the more area you can cover, but the damage won't be as great."

            "So we set it to maximum, right?" Selphie said as she set it to 75%.

            "Right." Quistis agreed. "That means that one or two may hit Garden, but the others will just touch down in the fields."

            "IF they launch!" Selphie remembered. "WE'RE the ones who have to give the go-ahead. If we leave now, they may never launch."

            "I think, if no-one arrives, they'll get suspicious and launch anyway, perhaps resetting everything." Quistis' mind was working hard now. "I say we go to the control room, knock off the guards and cancel the launch ourselves."

            "Then activate the self-destruct and blow the place to smithereens!" Selphie grinned. "Let's see them launch the missiles THEN!"

            They agreed and headed to the control room.

            "Hey! What are you doing in here?" the officer demanded as they walked in.

            "We've come to report on the missile co-ordinates." Selphie saluted.

            "Hah hah! Intruders eh?" The officer laughed.

            "No, we…"

            "No use hiding it now." The officer glared at them. "That salute you just did was completely wrong. So, who are you people?"

            Oh well, we got this far, thought Selphie. "We're SeeDs!" She told him. "Get 'em guys!"

            The two soldiers launched themselves at the group, but were immediately picked off by Irvine's sharpshooting.

            "Leave the captain!" Selphie commanded as she strode over to him. "Tell us how to stop the launch!" she demanded.

            The officer looked at Irvine's gun pointed at his head, then at Quistis who cracked her whip to make sure the point would be hammered home, weighed up his chances and decided to speak.

            "The control panel over there!" he told her.

            "And the self destruct mechanism?"

            "You're crazy!" he gasped.

            "WHERE?"

            The soldier drew himself to his feet, drew a gun and pointed it at his own head.

            "Hey, wait a minute!" Selphie panicked now. This man had the information she needed.

            "For what?" the officer demanded. "If I don't tell you, you kill me. If I do tell you, Edea kills me. I will die with my honour." And with that he pulled the trigger and fell dead on the floor.

            "OK! We do it ourselves!" Selphie decided. "Someone who can use the machines, stop the launch. I'll find the self-destruct mechanism."

            "I'll do it." Quistis strode over to the panel the officer had pointed at and stopped the launch. "OK, we're safe!"

            They all jumped and whooped and congratulated each other.

            "Selphie! You're a natural!" Irvine grinned.

            "Hey! We're not done yet." Selphie smiled. "THIS one's the self-destruct mechanism." With that she activated it. "I've set the time limit for 40 minutes. That should give us plenty of time to get out."

            With that, the alarms started ringing and the announcement was made to evacuate.

            "C'mon guys, let's go." They ran out of the room. As soon as they were gone, the officer picked himself up and went to the control panel. He couldn't believe they'd fallen for him using an empty gun, but, well, that was amateurs for you. He set the system to launch ASAP, then walked out the emergency exit they hadn't even noticed. Kids, he thought, how simple of them.

            The group made it back outside with 35 minutes to spare.

            "Piece of cake!" Irvine grinned. "Now let's go!"

            "Hang on!" Quistis noticed something. "Where's our truck?"

            They scanned the car park. It was empty. Furthermore, the large gates were bound shut and in front of them, was an enormous truck with six huge engines and a large cannon at the front.

            "You didn't think you'd succeed THAT easy did you?" The officer sneered. "We'll take you all out now." With that, he jumped into the RV and started up the engine.

            Instantly, a burst of cannon fire swept along the ground towards them. Fortunately, due to the size of the cannon, the group saw it coming and jumped to the sides. They instantly spotted its weakness. Whilst it was powerful, it was big, slow and had a very poor turning mechanism.

            "Keep it busy." Quistis told them. "I'm summoning Quezacotl."

            "A thunder GF, it's a machine, that'll work!" Selphie grinned. "Irvine, do you have a GF to use."

            "I don't use GF." He reminded them as he crashed into the shed next to them, took a look at the various arms before him, selected one with a very large barrel, and with pinpoint accuracy blew one of the engines away.

            "CAPTAIN!" A worried voice called from inside the truck.

            "It's only one! Don't worry." The captain reassured him. Irvine was disappointed that there was no more ammo in the thing. But by that time, the great thunder-god Quezacotl was flying through the sky, sparks flying off him as he moved. A huge metal machine like this was a perfect conductor and he sent bolts of lightning raining down onto the machine, obliterating two more engines in the process.

            The two soldiers came running out. The first was met by a Fire spell, courtesy of Selphie. The second had his skull smashed by the spike on the end of Quistis' whip. Selphie then cast a thunder spell at one of the remaining engines, which promptly exploded. This forced the captain to come out running. Irvine released the safety catch. The gun and bullet were real, and Irvine's aim was perfect. There were no falsehoods about the officer's death this time. The truck was just spinning around, but that didn't matter to the SeeDs, it could go careering off wildly for all they cared.

            But at that moment, the six launchers sprang out of the ground and fired the missiles they were holding. The trio watched stunned.

            "B-But, we stopped it!" Selphie wailed.

            "The officer was still alive. He must have reset it." Quistis sank down in despair.

            "Guys, there's nothing more we can do. We've gotta get out of here." Irvine told them. But it didn't take long for them to realise their predicament. The gates and walls were high and covered at the top with barbed wire.

            "A GF could destroy them!" Irvine reminded them hopelessly.

            Quistis looked at her watch. All that time they taken, they now had just over a couple of minutes left.

            "Even if we destroyed the wall, with no vehicles, we could never get out of the blast radius." She despaired. "It's going to destroy at least a square mile." She guessed.

            "Squall, you have 2 hours to get everyone out of Garden." Selphie prayed as the self-destruction sequence started.


	20. War On Home Ground

20. War on Home Ground

            By the time Squall and the others arrived back at Garden as Selphie and the others were fighting the RV. Unbeknownst to them, the missiles were to be launched in 10 minutes.

            "Alright! Garden's safe! They did it!" Zell was ecstatic.

            "The missiles might still be on their way." Squall reminded him. "We'd still better sound the alarm and evacuate everyone. We'd better report to the Headmaster. Come on."

            He led them inside the gates, and was greeted by a scene of utter chaos. The students were running round like an angry mob. The Garden Faculty were standing amongst the scene, but didn't seem to be keeping the discipline as usual, rather they seemed to be orchestrating it.

            "Find the headmaster!" One of them was ordering.

            _Did they already know? Are the evacuating? _Squall wondered, hoping it was true.

            "Seize him! Kill him if you have to!" he was ordering.

            With that line, the hope vanished like a puff of smoke. Squall was shocked, this was no evacuation, something else was going on here. The group ran after the mob, who were heading for the main building. As they did, the Faculty member noticed them and turned to them.

            "You three! Which side are you on?" He ordered.

            "Side?" Squall was baffled.

            "Answer the question! Are you with the Garden Master, or are you with Cid?" He demanded.

            "What the hell are you on about?" Zell was equally confused.

            "Do you swear your allegiance to Garden Master Norg?" The man was getting exasperated. Squall didn't have any idea what was going on.

            "Look, I've just got here. What's going on?" Squall was not in the mood for games. "There may be Galbadian missiles heading this way, we've got to evacuate."

            The Faculty it seemed, couldn't care less. "I'm the one asking questions! You're supposed to follow orders. What kind of attitude is that? You're with Cid, aren't you!?" The man blew a whistle and two, obviously trained monsters slid up to his side as if they were his own personal guards.

            "You've let the monsters in the training centre loose?" Squall was aghast.

            "To destroy Cid's follower's." the man replied as he left. Fortunately they were only a Grat and a Catercherpillar, two of the weakest monsters around. Rinoa's pinwheel weapon that she'd picked up in the Presidential Residence sailed through the air, slicing the Grat's tentacles in two, rendering it helpless. Squall's gunblade meanwhile, finished off the Catercherpillar.

            "What is all this?" Rinoa didn't remember any of this last time she was here.

            "I don't know, but something's gone mad." Squall sighed. "Come on, we'd better get them to see sense in case the missile's are on their way."

The group fought there way through the mob. They weren't stopped by anyone else; with all the chaos going on, they were just another three faces in the crowd. They found their way inside and were greeted by a familiar figure.

            "Squall! You're back!" Raijin called out to him.

            "What's going on here?" Squall was in a hurry.

            "I dunno." Raijin shrugged. "At first they were saying something about rounding up the SeeDs, ya know? Now everyone's either siding with Cid or some bozo called Norg, the Garden Master."

            "WHO?" Zell had never heard of him.

            "I dunno anything about him either, ya know?" Raijin told him. "But it seems all the Garden Faculty are behind him and they all want Cid dead!"

            "DISTURBING." Fujin put in.

            "Yeah, it's chaos." Raijin agreed. "Here's us, the disciplinary committee, and it's like all our hard work for nothing, ya know?"

            "Why are they after SeeDs? And where's the headmaster?" Squall demanded.

            Both of them shrugged. "Ain't got no clue." Raijin told him.

            "We need to see him right away. It's important." Squall tried to keep calm. "The Sorceress has launched missiles at Garden. Selphie and Quistis tried to stop them, but we don't know if they succeeded."

            "WHAT? We gotta get outta here!" Raijin panicked, but a small, sharp kick to the shin from Fujin dispelled that idea. "OOOUCH! Alright! We'll start the evacuation! Geez, this is no time to be fighting." He moaned.

            "Thanks guys!" Zell nodded after them.

Squall breathed a sigh of relief too; this was one less worry on his mind. "We'll go look for the headmaster." He said simply.

            "CAUTION!" Fujin warned.

            "Yeah, the fightin's pretty intense!" Raijin agreed as they ran off to start the evacuation.

            "Let's try his office." Zell suggested sensibly.

            "No, I think if the faculty want him dead, he wouldn't be upstairs." Squall thought about this.

            "Let's try at least." Rinoa argued.

            With no other plan of attack, Squall agreed and headed towards the lift. But as they ascended the stairs, sure enough they saw, guarding the lift a member of the Garden Faculty.

            "Find Cid!" he ordered. "We've locked him down to this floor."

            "OK." Squall agreed. He didn't know why the Faculty wanted him dead, or who this Garden Master was, but he needed to find Cid. And if he was on this floor, that left only 7 places. He decided the dorms were the best place to hide, because there were so many. But then if that was the obvious place… His brain hurt. He didn't need this. They went round the outer circle of the Garden, starting with the library.

He thought he'd found him, when he saw a member of the Garden faculty leading two Grats towards the students. Squall went up behind the first one and slaughtered it, before turning round and slicing the other in two.

            "What's going on? Are you one of Cid's followers?" The Faculty demanded.

            "NO! I'm just trying to get everyone out! There may be Galbadian missiles heading this way!" He HAD to get them to see sense. The Faculty were having none of it though.

            "You are one of Cid's followers! Just you wait! I'll bring back some more monsters. Those opposed to Norg must die!" He ran off, so Squall approached the students.

            "What's going on here!?" he demanded.

            "Thanks for the help." One of them said. "We're fortifying each area to make it look like it's the one the headmaster's in. If they all attacked at once, there's no way we could hold them off."

            "We're cutting them off." Agreed another student. "Basically, making them spread themselves thin. It was Xu's idea."

            "So where IS the Headmaster?" Squall was getting desperate. He didn't know how long they had.

            "I don't know. But he's not here." The first student shrugged.

            "Umm, if it helps…" The library girl with the pigtail, who seemed to know Zell broke in shyly. "I mean, if you don't mind, um…"

            "What's up?" Zell seemed equally shy

            "No time Zell!" Squall grabbed hold of him and dragged him back to the main circle. "This is ridiculous! Are we going to have to check each and every area to find out where he's got to?" Squall shook his head.

            "Maybe we'd best find Xu, instead." Zell suggested.

            "But we don't know where she is!" Squall was half tempted to just leave Garden and let these idiots fight it out amongst themselves.

            "Look, Raijin and Fujin are helping with the evacuation. Let's just try and find him. We'll go round everywhere, we've GOT to find him eventually." Zell said.

            They tried the training centre next, fighting their way through the mob, knowing time was against them here. Inside was the same scene as they'd encountered in the library. Lot's of students preparing barricades against the Faculty. And once again, Cid was nowhere to be found.

            "Well, do you have any idea where Xu is then?" Squall begged.

            It was hopeless. No-one had any idea where either of them were.

            "I think they're bluffing." Squall had another idea. "I think Cid's in his office. They're barricading all the areas to make it look like he's down here. Let's go back to the lift."

            The group fought their way back through the throng to the lift. They ascended the stairwell and saw the Garden Faculty man still stubbornly guarding the lift.

            "Scout this area downstairs. Cid is…"

            Squall grabbed the irritating man by his collar, dragged him to the top of the stairs and threw him down them.

            "I never liked those guys." Squall said after seeing Zell and Rinoa's surprised looks. Without the code for the restricted floors, they could only get to the second floor, and as soon as they stepped out the list, they were facing Xu.

            "Which faction are you with?" she demanded.

            "NEITHER!" Squall was ready to kill the next person who asked him that. "It's not important. Galbadian Missiles may be on their way!"

            "Missiles?" Xu looked at him.

            "Look, we NEED to see the headmaster. Where is he? It's urgent."

            "Go on. I'm listening…"

            "Look, I just told you, Galbadian missiles may be heading this way."

            "What are you on about? Why?"

            "I don't have time to tell the story! I need to see Cid!" Squall couldn't believe how much trouble this was turning out to be.

            "If it's urgent, you'll tell me so you can get to Cid quicker." Xu had Squall where she wanted him.

            Squall groaned in exasperation "Look. After we failed to assassinate the sorceress, she decided to destroy Garden, because she thinks SeeD are a threat. They've already destroyed Trabia. Quistis and Selphie went to the missile base to try and stop them launching missiles at us, but we don't know if they've been successful!" He gave her all the vital information as quickly as he could.

            "Are you serious?" Xu gasped.

            "YES!" All three of them chorused at once making Xu jump back in shock.

            "OK." She agreed. "I'll let you up to see Cid. He's in his office, but we tried to make it look like he's downstairs."

            "I figured as much." Squall told her.

            Xu led them to the lift and went into Cid's office to inform him.

            "OK, go on in." She told them when she re-emerged. "I'll go and try and evacuate everyone." She stepped back in the lift and head back down.

            "Sir!" Squall and Zell stepped into Cid's office and saluted.

            Cid nodded at them. "Xu has told me about the missiles." He said. "The Garden Master's faction has taken over the intercom, so we can't announce the evacuation."

            "Xu, Raijin and Fujin are taking care of that." Squall reassured him.

            "Good." Cid nodded. "I want you to assist them and then get out of here as well. This could be the start of the true battle for SeeD."

            "I have a lot to report." Squall was uncertain.

            "It can wait. We have to get everyone to safety first." Cid spoke sense.

            "Sir. What are you going to do?"

            Cid sighed. "I'm staying. This place is like my home now."

            "Cid, no! You can't just die on us!" Rinoa begged him "Come with us, you can always rebuild!"

But this time Cid just grinned and tapped his head. "Who said anything about dying? I'm going to try something. There may still be a way to save Garden."

            "Against missiles? How?" Squall was confused.

Cid strode over to his cupboard and took out a key. "Heh, I'm probably too old for this. Call it my dying glory if you will." He smiled.

            "Sir! I'd like to try whatever it is you're planning." Squall didn't want to see Cid die, and he wasn't sure if Cid was up to it after what he just said.

            "Oh really? Why?" Cid looked inquisitively at him.

            _This is my home too_. Squall thought. _I can't even remember where I lived before this, I've been here so long._

            "My feelings have nothing to do with it, sir!" he said simply.

            "Heh Heh, Quistis was right." Cid laughed. "You do have a hard time expressing your feelings. You've been here since you were 5. I guess that's reason enough."

            Time was running out. "Sir! Please! What is your plan?"

            "Have you heard of the Centra Civilisation?" Cid asked them.

            "The one that was wiped out by the Lunar Cry?" Zell asked.

            "That's the one." Cid nodded. "They were the most advanced civilisation other than Esthar. Well, the Gardens were all Centra Shelters long before they were remodelled." He handed Squall the key. "That key will take you down into the MD level, below even the basement. That's where all the workings for the shelter were. Try and re-activate them if you can."

            "Right." Squall nodded. "So what happens if we re-activate it?"

            Cid laughed. "I have no idea! I've never even seen it. But this was a shelter, and knowing Centra, it must have had some kind of defence system, so it may prove effective against the missiles." He spoke half to himself. "That's what I'm betting on."

            Squall thought it sounded pretty far-fetched, but it was better than doing nothing. Squall and Zell both saluted.

            "Leave it to us sir! We'll find the control system and reactivate it."

            "Good luck to all of you." Cid nodded.


	21. Garden's Secret

21. Garden's Secret

Unbeknownst to the group, at about this time, the missiles had been launched, following Selphie's failure to stop them. They were high in the sky by now, heading over the ocean, with only one purpose. Had he known he had little over an hour to activate Garden's defences, Squall may have been in a more urgent frame of mind. As it was, he was standing in the lift, taking them down to the lower levels of Garden with his usual grim-faced determination. All three of them sat in silence, not wanting to think about the mission at hand, or the consequences should they succeed or fail…

The lift had only been descending for a couple of minutes, but it seemed like a couple of hours to the group when the doors to the lift finally opened.

"Nobody's been here in a while, so be careful!" Squall told them.

They were looking out through a large tunnel. The lighting was too poor to be able to make out much detail, though there was a noticeable smell of ancient oil present in the air.

"Do you reckon there are monsters down here?" Zell asked.

"Quite possibly, so be alert." Squall told him. Then a thought occurred to him. "If this is an oil stratum, chances are any monsters down here will be weak against fire." He told them both. They walked along a tunnel and at the end, was a huge hole leading down. It was very dark, but fortunately, there was still some kind of faint emergency lighting, so they could faintly make out the area around them, and find their way; yet it was still akin to fumbling through the dark, as they could not see where they were heading, or to what.

Eventually, they reached a dead end. Squall felt around the walls for any evidence of a door, but found nothing.

"Do you think we've come the wrong way?" Zell wondered.

"They wouldn't have a tunnel to nowhere." Squall reasoned. "Look around."

"There's a ladder here." Rinoa found a way down through a hole, scarcely wide enough for one person.

"This must be it then." Squall decided and started descending, without consulting the rest of the group. With no other immediate plan, the other two followed suit. They scaled down the ladder to the bottom of the pit. The only thing they found at the bottom was a single door, which, unlike the rest of the area had a lot of light pouring through it. With no other options, the groups decided to inspect it.

The lighting system was working fine in this room, but all they could see was a huge wheel, controlling a valve.

"Do we have to open this?" Rinoa wondered.

"Possibly. It probably opens a door somewhere." Squall guessed.

He tried to turn the wheel, but years of neglect had left it rusted and he could hardly budge it.

"Zell, Rinoa. Give me a hand." All three of them gripped the wheel, and pulled until they thought their arms would fall off. Finally, it yielded and the valve was open. After a couple of moments, with nothing happening, Squall decided to retrace their steps to see if any new routes had been opened up, or, as he hoped that they had just activated the system, whatever it may be. As they re-entered the circular room, they were all surprised to see that the floor had opened up, revealing an even longer descent, with a ladder leading down into the depths.

"Damn! How deep does that thing go!?" Zell looked down the pit. The emergency lighting was getting fainter and they could barely see down. They climbed down the ladder. As they couldn't see the bottom, it felt like they'd been climbing down forever. Squall prayed that the ladder was still strong enough to take their weight after all these years. With no idea how far down it went, he figured a fall down the pit would probably be their death. But finally, they reached the bottom. They stepped through a door and gazed at the room around them.

There were rows and rows of huge pistons and cogs. At the far end, was a walkway leading over a bed of oil into a room. Zell whistled.

"Man! This shelter thing must have been pretty impressive when it was working! Look at all this machinery!"

"Do you think it will work against the missiles?" Rinoa asked.

"Who knows?" Squall shrugged. "But we'd better find this control system and activate it just on case. I think it's probably in that room over there." He pointed across the walkway.

"Let's check it out then." Zell and Squall started heading over to it, when they heard a scream from Rinoa.

"Squall! The oil! Look!"

Squall looked to where Rinoa was pointing and he could see two huge bulges rising from the oil. Presently, two huge, slimy creatures crawled out. They crawled along on their bellies and they stank of oil. They saw the SeeDs and bared down on them.

"They're full of oil!" Zell whispered to Squall. "Cast Fire on them and they'll burn alive."

"And so will we!" Squall pointed out. "Look at all that oil in that pool. We'd blow up Garden ourselves."

"We gotta do something about them!" Rinoa backed off. "They don't look very friendly!"

As if in response, she fired her pinwheel weapon, which embedded itself in the forehead of one of the monsters. Squall had to admit she was a good shot with that thing. But the problem now was, getting her weapon back.

" If we can draw them away from the oil, we might be able to cast Fire on them." Squall shouted to the others.

The monsters kept crawling towards them. Squall cursed. They had to get past them to get to that room, but the two beasts obviously didn't want them to pass. He didn't know if they were hungry or what, but they clearly didn't harbour good intentions to them.

"Let's bait them then!" Zell agreed. He ran over to one of them and punched it several times to make it angry. The creature reared back and spewed thick, black oil all over Zell.

"AARRGHH!" Zell was dripping, slipping and could hardly see. He fell down and the two creatures bared down on him.

No choice then. Squall decided. He had to go in for the kill or they'd kill Zell. He ran for the nearest one, the one with Rinoa's pinwheel embedded in it, and brought his gunblade across its back, then sunk it into the face of the other. He was careful not to pull the trigger on them at such close range. He could see oil seeping out of the wounds, but other than that, the creatures seemed to be unaffected. They seemed to forget Zell, and bore down on Squall instead.

He backed off. His plan was working; the creatures were heading away from the oil pit, but then he noticed something else. They were dripping with oil so badly, that they'd left a nice trail back to the pit.

"I have Water magic!" Zell shouted at Squall. "Just burn the suckers alive before it's too late!"

Squall was about to protest, when Rinoa cast her spell. Not just normal Fire magic either, she'd acquired Fira somehow, a much more powerful version of the magic which she cast. That, however was even worse.

Squall jumped out the way as a trail of fire skimmed across the floor past him and straight towards the two creatures, which instantly ignited. Then Squall's fear came true. The fire spread along the trails of oil. Zell too, was enveloped in the inferno, which fortunately didn't manage to reach the pool.

Zell was running about, screaming at the heat, and smacking himself, trying to put the fire out. He was obviously in no state to cast magic himself, so there was nothing for it.

Squall found Zell's mind and drew his Water magic out, which he instantly cast on Zell. He waited until the two oil monsters were just charred remains, but as soon as they were dead, the oil inside them was burnt away and the fire died down, so Squall cast Water on the last few remnants until there was no more fire, just the smoke still lingering.

"Rinoa." Squall's voice was unnaturally calm. "I know you were trying to help, but don't EVER do that again."

"I-I'm sorry." She looked first at Squall, who had escaped unscathed, then turned her eyes to Zell. His body was dripping with both oil and water. His clothes were burnt away in places and there was ash all over his face and hair.

"EEUUCHH! Squall, when we've activated this shelter, I am NEVER coming down here again!" he moaned. Squall couldn't help but smile faintly. Despite the fact that he nearly died, now that the threat was over, he looked so funny. Soon, both he and Rinoa were quietly chuckling.

"Hey! Come on guys! Not THAT funny!" he protested, which of course, made it worse.

"Let's go activate this shelter!" he muttered.

"I have to ask though," Squall mused. "Where on earth did you get Fira from?"

"Seifer." She grinned. "You know how he loves his Fire magic. After he betrayed me, I drew some from him as they were leading us away. I thought it would be only fitting to use it back on him. I didn't use it there and then though, because the Sorceress was there and I didn't want to get into a magic fight with HER." She shuddered at the though.

Squall nodded in agreement. Vengeance aside, it was certainly resourceful thinking.

Rinoa retrieved her pinwheel, casting Ice on it first to cool it down and they proceeded across the walkway, cautiously, in case any more of the creatures should appear. Fortunately, none did. Inside the room, they found an enormous looking engine with so many cylinders and pistons and cogs and other things the group couldn't begin to name. At the end of the walkway, was a small control panel.

"Oh, man! What do we do with THIS!?" Zell stared up at the machine in awe.

Squall investigated the control panel. Around the walkway were other bits and pieces, which looked like they may have been levers at one point, but what they did, or how to activate them was beyond his guess.

"We can't just sit here and stare at it!" Rinoa said sensibly.

Squall pressed the largest button on the panel. Nothing happened, so he pulled the lever next to it.

"Squall, what the heck are you doing?" Zell looked at him.

"I don't know! What else can I do?" Squall felt way in over his head here. But all of a sudden, there was a rumbling noise and the engine started to spring into life, slowly at first; then, as the joints started to lubricate themselves, the cogs and pistons were working at full pelt. Then, they noticed that the platform with the panel they were standing on was rising as well. They all clung onto the railings as it moved up faster and faster. A panel opened up in the roof, and soon they were travelling up a shaft. A door at the top of that opened just before they reached it, and Headmaster Cid came tumbling out of it. Squall and Zell both caught him, and the platform stopped above the balcony of Cid's office.

"What's going on?" Cid was bewildered.

They felt the entire Garden shake and they held onto whatever they could find. It seemed like the entire Garden was rocking left to right.

"Are we moving?" Zell finally asked. Squall walked to the edge and looked down. The ground was moving along underneath them. Bewildered students who had got past the Faculty looked up at them. They weren't just moving; they were flying.

"We're flying!" He told them.

"So! This is the secret!" Cid laughed. "The Centra Shelters were mobile!"

Then they saw them. The missiles were incoming. Squall watched with fear as they descended mercilessly on the Garden. Then, to the surprise of all the group, the missiles surged straight past, seemingly ignoring their target, only to crash down into the crater where Garden had been. Unbeknownst to him, the officer who had re-activated the launch program had reset the Error Ratio back to zero. Squall instantly guessed the error ratio had been kept at zero, which struck another fear into his heart. Selphie and the others had obviously failed. If so, what had happened to them?

"OH WOW!! This is AWESOME! Garden can FLY!" Zell could hardly contain himself. "Hey, Squall! How do we steer it then?"

"How should I know?" _Why does everyone keep asking me these things?_

"Erm, I think we'd better find out soon." Cid noticed something. "Because we're going to crash into Balamb town soon."

With no other plan of attack Squall simply grabbed the main lever and moved it about.

"It's working! We're turning!" Rinoa shouted.

The Garden swerved away from the harbour and into the sea. Fortunately it floated, and soon, they were sailing along slowly. Panic over, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

"Squall, Zell, Rinoa. A job well done everyone!" Cid congratulated them.

"Where are we headed?" Squall wondered.

"It doesn't matter. We'll drift along for now, until we work out these controls. It'll also give us time to figure out what to do next." Cid answered him. Then he looked round and realised his office had become the bridge of the Garden. "So much for my room. Where am I going to change now?" They all laughed. The worst was behind them, and they could relax now.

"I'm off to my room then. I need to shower!" Zell moaned. They all watched him leave, still dripping with ash, oil and water and burst into fits of laughter again.


	22. SeeD and the Sorceress

22. SeeD and the Sorceress

Squall was lying on his bed restlessly. It was two days later. The shock of Garden moving and the realisation of immediate threat of the missiles had plunged the place into chaos, and with faculty and students alike both wanting to know what was going on, the faction business had been forgotten. On the downside to this, the monsters had then been left unchecked, and the students had spent a hectic day getting them back under control. They'd at first, attempted to get them all back in the training centre, but some of the stronger monsters like Granaldo's and T-Rexaurs had made this process difficult, and so they instead resorted to just killing them outright.

Squall had quite enjoyed this process; it was good training he felt. What with helping head up the hunting parties, and then helping the clean-up operation had kept him busy and kept his mind off things. Now, they were just drifting along, there was nothing to do, and Squall was bored.

Cid had been trying to fathom the controls, but he was no mechanic or engineer, the most he could try was pushing various buttons or pulling levers. But after getting no results other than altering the speed at which they were drifting, he'd slowed it right down to minimise any damage should a collision occurred, and then admitted defeat.

Zell had, of course, used this opportunity to have a tinker himself. He loved machines and tools, but the controls were very antiquated, being relics from the Centra civilisation that had been destroyed 800 years ago and completely beyond him. Finally, Zell too emerged from the bridge looking sulkily defeated.

Cid had then taken back over his office and no-one had taken a look at the bridge since. Squall was still waiting to be able to talk to him. He had to give him his report. He looked out the window at the ocean all around and sighed.

There were a lot of things he wanted to know, too. He knew that the missile base team had failed their task, but he didn't know what had happened to Selphie and the others. He hoped they were alright. He didn't know how he'd feel if he found he'd sent them to their deaths.

But the thing he was most curious about was why this Sorceress Edea had all of a sudden sprung up from nowhere, taken over Galbadia and fired missiles at the Garden. Balamb and Galbadia had ordered the attack, so he was sure Cid knew something. Was that what Seifer had wanted to know? He burned up inside when he thought about Seifer and his electric shock torture. He'd never been one to let his feelings build up inside of him, but he was still cross at the lengths to which Seifer had betrayed him and the rest of Garden like that.

He hated this, having nothing to do. It got him thinking too much. So, to his surprise he was kind of glad of the interruption when Rinoa knocked at his door.

"Hey!" she smiled at him. "What's up?"

"Nothing really." He admitted. "I'm pretty bored."

"Me too actually!" she said "I don't really know this place. I was just wondering if you could show me around."

He looked at his client. "Is this an order?" he asked.

"No. I'm just asking for a favour." She laughed. "I think the 'Forest Owls' are laying low for a bit. It's not about business now."

_Well, it'll take my mind off things I guess… _"OK." He agreed and got up.

Rinoa was buzzing as she looked around. She'd only been here once before, that night that she'd arrived looking for Cid and Seifer and ended up finding Squall. But that night, she'd just gone straight to the party, so this was her first chance to look around properly.

"This place is huge! Do you think it's bigger than Galbadia Garden?"

"I dunno really." Squall shrugged. "That was the first time I'd ever been there and I didn't really get the chance to look around properly."

"So what's over here?" she asked looking at the corridor left of the dormitory, buzzing with students milling in and out in groups.

"The cafeteria." He told her. "And the parking lot is over there. Along with the Training Centre and the library." He gestured to the rooms to his right in respective order.

"Can we go to the library?" she asked.

"Sure." He told her.

They arrived and she asked to have a look around. Rinoa excused herself for the chance to look around and was soon dancing down the aisles enthusiastically, a look of delight on her face every time she spotted a book she liked the look of. Squall watched her disappear behind one of the bookshelves and on turning back towards the reception, noticed Zell.

"H-Have you got 'Goodbye Pupurun' back in yet?" he was asking.

"No sorry. It's still on loan to Raijin. It's well overdue though."

He tuned out of that conversation, uninterested, then, at the back of the class, he noticed someone else, a young girl, with short, chestnut-brown hair, wearing long, flowing clothes. He recognised her instantly. It was the girl he'd seen in the infirmary and the training centre, what seemed like years ago. Yet, was it only a week? He went over to her, still wanting to know who she was. As he approached, she heard is footsteps and turned round to face him, her face lighting up in recognition.

"Hi Squall!" she smiled. He paused, not sure what to say. 'Who are you' would just seem rude.

"I saw you in the infirmary." He managed.

"You saved me from the monster." She reminded him as well.

He couldn't help it now. "Who are you? Where do I know you from?"

The smile on her face faded, and she looked hurt. "Come on Squall. Try to remember. Please."

"Remember?" As far as he was concerned, the first time he'd ever seen her was in the infirmary.

"It'd be heartbreaking for me to think I was forgotten." She turned away and looked sad. "It'd be nice to talk about old times again."

"I'm sorry. The first time I saw you was in the infirmary." He was racking his brains now, and that was the first time he could recall her. And Quistis, she'd known her too, but Quistis couldn't remember her either.

She looked even sadder. "I know you've been through a lot. I know you've trained very hard, but please. You seem to have forgotten everything. I don't want to tell you. It would be better for you if you remember for yourself."

Squall was getting annoyed. Could this girl not just tell him who she was? In frustration, he stormed out the library, grabbing Rinoa, en route. It didn't matter who she was, he decided. It wasn't important to his training, his role in Garden, or his life. She was probably just some girl he'd shared a desk with once a few years earlier he told himself, but it annoyed him, that no matter how much he kept telling himself all this, the question still irritated him; like he SHOULD know who this girl was.

"Squall, What's wrong?" Rinoa was startled.

"Come on. There's more to see." He told her.

She laughed. "Squall, I appreciate you showing me around. But can you make it a bit more fun? Like a normal tour?" She smiled at him.

"Hey! I'm not good at this stuff." He scratched his head defensively. But he walked into the cafeteria.

"OK then, this is the cafeteria. It's where we take our meals obviously. But keep in mind that there is always competition for the good stuff. Especially the hot dogs. That's why you get this long line everyday." He indicated it. "If you get there too late…"

"Sorry, we've run out of hot dogs for today." The cafeteria lady told the student at the front of the line.

"Awww man!" Zell was not best pleased and he walked away from the counter in a huff.

"…that happens." Squall grinned. Rinoa laughed.

"What's so funny?" Squall asked.

"You just sound so serious when you're explaining things! It just seems… I dunno, a bit odd!" she told him.

"You're the one who wanted showing around!" Squall reminded her.

"I didn't mean it in a bad way!" Rinoa smiled at him. "It's kinda cute!"

"Dammit! Not again!" Zell was doing fake punches to work out his frustration. He looked up and realised Squall and Rinoa were looking at him

"Oh, hey, Squall, hey Rinoa!" he looked embarrassed. "How long have you been standing there?"

"We saw the whole thing!" Rinoa grinned at him.

"Oh man! I'm not usually like that!" He tried to bluff his way out of it.

But at that moment, he was saved by one of the Garden Faculty interrupting them.

"Squall Leonheart? Zell Dincht?" He inquired. They both nodded.

"The Garden Master wishes to see you. Report to the Master's Room, right away."

"Where is it?" asked Zell. He'd never been there.

"Take the elevator to level B1" the man replied, handing them the card key to get there.

"What's this about?" Rinoa asked as they headed for the lift.

"No idea." Zell shrugged. "Squall, who is this Garden Master anyway?"

Squall shrugged. He didn't know either.

"Squall, Zell, have you seen Cid?" Dr Kadowaki approached them as they passed the infirmary. They both shook their heads. "Well if you do, tell him to stop by the infirmary." She told them.

They nodded and took the lift downstairs to the master's room.

"Please! Listen to me!" Squall recognised Cid's voice as soon as he entered the room. Then they saw him, being pushed away by one of the Garden Faculty.

"Greedy son-of-a-bitch!" Cid was yelling. "Why did I even bother talking to you!? SeeDs were brought up for the future! And that future is now! Why can't you understand?"

The faculty member ignored him and pushed him over, then walked away. Squall could see there was a large chair, facing away. There were three Faculty members around it. They couldn't see who was sitting in the chair, but Squall guessed it was the Garden Master.

"Dammit!" Cid cursed as he yelled at the figure in the chair. "I wish I could go back ten years or so! So I could tell myself you're nothing but a money crazed idiot! Then I would never have trusted you, never have built this place." But the figures at the other end of the room were ignoring him. Cid hung his head.

"Sir, what's going on?" Squall asked him.

"Squall!?" Cid was surprised to see him, then looked deflated. "You heard everything I assume then?"

"…Yes." Squall admitted.

"Even old men like me lose their temper at times." He sighed. "I'm sorry, I don't normally act like that. Come on, let's get out of here. Leave that idiot to himself."

"Sir, I still have to give you my report." Squall told him. Cid started to walk back to the lift.

"Come to my office. Give it to me there. Unless he wants to hear it as well. In fact, yes, go and tell him. Maybe YOU can make him see sense." He sighed. "God knows he won't listen to me."

"Oh, and that doctor…" Rinoa put in.

"Yeah, Dr Kadowaki wants you to stop by the infirmary." Zell told him. A wicked smile spread across Cid's face.

"Heh heh! Looks like I finally made her mad!" he grinned and head back up in the lift.

One of the faculty members who'd been drifting round now approached them.

"You're the SeeDs who returned from Galbadia, correct?" he inquired.

"Yes." Squall replied. The man nodded.

"Good. Master Norg wishes to see you. Come." He brought them round to the front of the chair, where the group gaped at the figure occupying it. It was of humanoid shape, at least 8 feet tall, but with yellow skin with huge drooping jowls, that hung past its chin. Its jawbone too was proportionally big, compared to the rest of its face. But the most striking thing about it, was its hands. The palms alone were as big as its face, and the fingers were as long as its forearms.

_He's not human!_ Squall realised. But when he thought about it, he realised he didn't know anything about the Garden Master.

"Give your report on the Sorceress!" Norg bellowed; his voice had a rasping sound to it, underplayed with a hint of menace.

_It's going to be a sad report_ Squall sighed.

"Answer him quickly! Be concise!" The faculty told him.

"…We failed to assassinate Sorceress Edea." Squall began. "Confirmation of Headmaster Cid's orders were made at Galbadia Garden. We set off under the instructions from Balamb and Galbadia Gardens…"

"BALAMB and Galbadia's orders?" Norg cut him off in fury. "IDIOTS! You were fooled!"

Fooled? 

"I… don't understand." He said.

"Explain to them!" Norg told the faculty.

"Balamb never made an order to assassinate the sorceress." The faculty explained. "Master Norg had already heard from Martine, the Galbadia Master about the alliance with the Sorceress. In fact, the Sorceress and Garden are closely connected. That is why the Sorceress wants to gain control of all Gardens, especially Galbadia."

"Yes, I remember Martine telling us this." Squall thought back to their briefing.

"Martine came to us, worried. He didn't know what to do about it. So, Master Norg SUGGESTED to Galbadia to kill the Sorceress. An assassination was thought to be the best means."

"But that was THEIR job!" Norg explained. "You were never meant to be involved! But you showed up just before they were going to send someone in for the job. That sly weasel Martine used you! And now he's saying we ordered it done to place the blame on me!" Norg was furious. "That bastard!"

"So, Balamb had nothing to do with that order?" Squall felt like a fool.

"Precisely." The Garden Faculty nodded. "In fact, Cid sent an order over to halt the assassination. But it went ahead AND failed, and so the Sorceress retaliated. Just as we expected. No doubt the Sorceress ordered the missile attacks."

"She did." Squall confirmed. "She thinks SeeD poses a threat to her and that we're trained to kill her."

"Right." The man agreed. "So now, we have to try and calm her anger."

"Wait a minute…" Squall didn't like the sound of where this might be going.

"We have to hand over the SeeDs involved to the Sorceress to show Balamb Garden's sincerity."

"Offer the SeeDs head on a silver platter and pretend we obey the Sorceress." Norg agreed.

"Wait a minute!" Squall was getting angry. "If she's retaliating, why don't we fight her back!? We endure training every day; we learn how to be the best fighters in the world. How to use para-magic and junction with GFs… What good is all that if we then just cower away?"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Norg roared. "You lost to the Sorceress, quit whining! You sound just like Cid! Saying it was SeeDs duty to fight the Sorceress, that that was the true purpose of SeeD!"

_So she was right? We ARE being trained to fight her?_

"He doesn't realise, if we fail, we are done for!" Norg roared so loud that the Faculty members ran away in fear. "My Garden! He's prepared to gamble MY GARDEN? Has he forgotten it was I who put up the money for it? I was going to offer Cid's head along with yours." His fury reached a peak. "I ordered the students to find Cid, BUT THEY SIDED WITH HIM!!! This is MY Garden!"

"NO!" Squall was getting equally enraged. "It's not JUST yours!"

"THEN WHO'S IS IT???" Norg demanded. "IS IT CID AND EDEA'S? DOES IT BELONG TO THAT PATHETIC MARRIED COUPLE???"

This was a shock to the system for the group.

"Wait a minute. Are you saying, Sorceress Edea and Headmaster Cid are MARRIED??" Zell was stunned.

"Now I understand." Norg smiled. "Their pathetic ideals of SeeDs for the future. There's no money in that. SeeDs are mercenaries. Your job is to make money!"

"For who? For YOU?" Squall demanded.

"YES! FOR ME!!" Norg roared again. "This is my business, you are my employees! That's how it works! I employ you, train you, give you a job, and I get my share. But Cid and Edea, they said that wasn't why they established Garden. That SeeDs were never MEANT to be mercenaries. So now, they're trying to take Garden away from me! No! I won't have it! You can go with Cid back to his wife and see what she does to you."

"NO! I don't know if we were meant to be mercenaries or what!" Squall shouted. "But whatever the reason, we're fighters! We weren't meant to be cowering away like this! We were meant to fight!"

"Yeah!" Zell backed him up "You want us! Come and get us!"

They looked round at the Garden Faculty, who looked awkward and avoided their gaze.

"You boss us around, well, we aren't going to follow your orders anymore! Are you going to come and hand us over yourselves?"

Squall smiled. "You said yourself Norg. The students won't side with you. They won't just take it lying down. You're powerless here."

"HOW DARE YOU!! I OWN GARDEN!!" Norg roared.

"No, Cid does!" Rinoa shouted at him.

"I've had enough of this." Squall squared up. "I'm going back upstairs. If you want us to go to the Sorceress, you'll have to take us there yourselves. Are you going to do that?"

The Faculty shuffled around nervously as Squall drew his gunblade.

"YOU DARE DRAW YOUR WEAPON IN FRONT OF ME??"

"What are you going to do about it?" Squall's voice was eerily calm.

Norg looked around. He could already see his Faculty taking the lift up.

"You have no power here now Norg. You always used the Faculty to enforce your orders, but the students won't obey the Faculty anymore. And look at them, they're too cowardly to try and do anything themselves. You either have to accept that, or try and carry out your orders yourself. But you already know the students won't listen to you. Either way, you lose Norg.

Norg was now apoplectic with rage "I'LL KILL YOU MYSELF!" he roared as he leapt from his seat towards them.

The group instantly reached for their weapons, but Norg was too quick. With a swing from his left hand, he toppled Squall to the floor, knocking him unconscious, and with his right, he knocked Rinoa over as well, also stunned as she fell to the floor head first. He then turned to Zell, but Zell being a martial artist didn't need to reach for his weapons, he was already fully equipped. Norg didn't know this however, and was surprised when Zell slid inside the range of his hands. He grabbed Norg's sleeve and pulled the arm down towards the floor. There was no real power to it, but Norg had thrown his whole weight behind the punch and taken himself off balance, with the result he tumbled down onto the floor. Zell was about to rush towards him to finish him off, when a backward sweep from Norg's hand dispelled that idea.

Zell realised quickly that whilst Norg was an unskilled and primitive fighter, his size, and the range weight behind those giant hands of his would still lend him a considerable advantage. Landing punches on the vulnerable upper sections of his body would be tricky; so would throwing him. Having to drop back had unfortunately given Norg the chance to get back up.

Enraged, the Garden Master bore back down on Zell, coming back in for another swipe, taking care not to throw himself directly into the attack. But Zell had more than one trick up his sleeve. Once more he threw himself inside the range of the punch, and struck his foot out, scraping down Norg's shin. The momentary pain made him drop his body weight down. This was the opportunity Zell needed; as the gigantic face dropped down, he smashed the back of his fist directly into the side of it's skull. Unfortunately the huge jowls acted as good padding for the skull, and the impact didn't even have the fraction of the effect it would have on a human; it only served to make Norg angrier, and unfortunately for Zell, this time, he was right next to him.

Snarling, Norg extended his left hand and wrapped it around Zell's neck, lifting him off the floor, as effortlessly as picking up a stick. Struggling for breath, Zell grabbed the giant hand with both of his own, praying that this was one area where the creature's anatomy was similar to his own. He hoisted the little fingers of the hand up towards the ceiling, whilst pulling the thumb-end down, twisting the entire hand around. Much to his relief, the grip loosened and Norg was sent spiralling towards the floor in an effort to salvage his wrist. In a normal human, it would have been broken, but Zell didn't care for details like that right now, instead, he dropped back onto the floor and kicked Norg square in the jaw. Once again, the size of it minimised the damage a human would have suffered, but it was enough to hurt Norg. In rage, he swung his giant hands out again, catching Zell off guard and taking his legs out from under him. Instinctively, he struck the floor with both hands, absorbing the impact and sending him back over his shoulders. Swinging his foot round, Zell was back on his feet instantly. Norg too, managed to lift himself to his feet.

The two opponents, bruised, and angry faced each other, a look of grim determination on their faces, neither wanting to make the next move. Zell out of cautiousness of running back into those giant fists, and knowing the best form of self-defence was to wait for the attack; Norg out of respect for Zell's skills.

He realised, in a man-on-man, straight out fight, Zell would ultimately be the winner. Wanting the entire group dead, he decided to try a new technique.

Before Zell realised what was happening, Norg had dived for Rinoa, who was starting to come around and picked her up by the throat, the same way he had for Zell.

"Come one step closer and I'll break her neck!" he threatened.

Zell was at a loss. He knew Norg was serious, and that with the strength in his hands, he could do it quickly. He also figured that he'd do it anyway, and that the only way to save her, was to dive in, which was what Norg wanted him to do. This was exactly what Norg was planning. Of course he'd kill her anyway, he'd kill all 3 of them. But using this girl was the perfect bait to get Zell.

"Zell! Help!" Rinoa's voice already sounded strangled.

Norg twisted his face into an evil smile; all he had to do was increase the pressure round the girl's neck to get her to call for help to him, and it would only be a matter of time before Zell could no longer resist. He was therefore, taken aback when Zell returned the smile. Norg only had a second to wonder what was going on when he felt a short, sharp pain go through his back shoulder, and saw the end of a sword come out of it, just under his face.

"Let her go!" Squall commanded, his voice still sounding a little groggy.

Norg grunted at the pain, cursing himself for having forgotten Squall was lying behind him. "Never!" He rasped.

In response, Squall audibly released the safety catch on his gunblade. "Let her go, or I'll pull the trigger!" he demanded.

"Never!" Norg roared. "YOU do as I tell you, NOT the other way round! You shall not change the way I run Garden!"

"As you wish." Squall replied calmly. "We are mercenaries for hire then."

"Thank you!" replied Norg. "So then…"

"And in your hand, is my client." Squall continued speaking, as if he had all the time in the world. "You know the rules, none better. As a SeeD, I must obey my client's every word. And in the event that she is endangered and unable to give a command, it is my duty to do what it takes to save her."

This time Norg was silent. He knew Squall was right, and if he said otherwise, he'd effectively have lost Garden. In vain he looked round for another option.

"Don't look at me man! Your rules!" Zell grinned happily.

"What's it going to be Norg?" The calm had vanished from Squall's voice. "Like it or not, you've lost Garden, or Garden as you know it. I don't want to kill you, but if I must, I will!"

"Then you'll lose this girl as well!" Norg roared with the final determination of a wounded animal, trapped in the corner making his last stand.

"Do it Squall!" Rinoa choked hurriedly.

For Squall, there was nothing simpler: his client had given him an order; he had to obey. Coldly he pulled the trigger.

Norg's hands flew apart as he fell to the floor, releasing Rinoa, who fell off to one side. Putting his good hand to his shoulder to try and stop the blood flow, he crawled to his chair and leant on it, slowly breathing. For a few moments, no-one spoke.

All of a sudden, Norg uttered one final roar and, grabbing his chair by the leg, raised it high above his head. Squall and Zell braced themselves, but at that moment, Rinoa's pinwheel sailed through the air, slicing the end of his fingers off, causing him to drop the chair.

"That's it! I'm finishing him!" Zell had finally had enough and dived in.

Seeing him coming, Norg swung out again with his hand, but by now he was slow, clumsy and threw himself way off balance. This was exactly the opportunity Zell needed. Once more, he grabbed the sleeve of the punching arm and swung it round, whilst at the same time, lifting the opposite shoulder, the Squall's gunblade had pierced, high into the air. Turning his body through 180 degrees, he struck his hips out, lifting Norg off the floor. With a final thrust of his back foot, he catapulted Norg into the air, and took off himself after him. As Norg landed, so did Zell on top of his chest, throwing his full weight into the throw and shattering Norg's ribcage.

With blood pouring out if his shoulder and hands, coupled with the damage Zell had just done to all his organs, it was all Norg could do to keep breathing slowly, and loudly. After a couple of minutes, his breaths got slower and slower, until finally they stopped and he lay still.

"Is he…" Rinoa breathed

"…Yes." Squall replied simply. "It was either us or…"

"No, it's… it's ok." Rinoa didn't want to talk about it.

"What was that all about?" Zell shook his head.

"Forget it for now." Squall shrugged.

"I can't believe you can be so casual!" Rinoa gasped. "I think what just happened is really serious!"

"What can we say? Do YOU know what's going on?" Squall snapped, then shook his head. Things were getting worse and worse. "I feel like some kind of puppet. I just feel there's something a lot bigger going on here, no-one's giving us the full story and I just feel manipulated and helpless!" He was full of frustration.

"Squall…" Rinoa put her arm around him.

"Let's go and see Cid." He muttered darkly. "I wanna know what's going on once and for all."

There was a grim silence as the group travelled up in the lift. No-one needed to speak; there was only one thing on their minds: answers that none of them could give.

The three of them burst into the infirmary.

"Is the Headmaster in here?" Squall demanded.

Dr Kadowaki looked a little awkward. "Well, yes he is, but he's kind of…"

"It's ok Dr." Cid's voice came from inside the sick bay. "I believe I'm done crying now."

"Just take it easy, ok?" She sighed; then nodded to Squall. "OK, you can go in and see him."

"You all see me in such an embarrassing state." Cid scratched his head, a little awkward as Squall walked in.

"I've just been talking with Norg." Squall told him.

"What was he saying?" Cid sighed.

"He was angry, because he thinks you're trying to get him out. That you and he have different objectives for SeeD."

"That's true." Cid nodded. "SeeD was set up to defeat the Sorceress. The Garden, to train SeeD members. The many battles around the world are training missions really. I met Norg when I was looking for funding to establish Garden."

"Where did you meet him? He's not human, I've never seen anything like him before."

"He's a member of the Shumi Tribe. A group of people who live in the very northern parts of Trabia." Cid told him. "Mainly, they never leave their village; but Norg is a bit of a black sheep. But anyway, he became interested in the project and we hit it off. I couldn't have completed the building of Garden without his help." Cid admitted. "But we still needed to find funds for running the Garden, even after it was established." He sighed. "So Norg hit upon the idea of dispatching SeeDs around the world. He was right about the money; it began pouring in. But he became afraid of the true reason; that if it came about, the mercenary hiring would stop, and the money would dry up. He became very greedy really. And all of the Faculty were hired by him, so the truth got covered up.

"The problem is, now that the Sorceress has become a major threat, our true mission has begun. But Norg didn't want to know. That's why, when you failed to assassinate her, he saw his opportunity to get rid of me, so that the mission to fight her would never come about, and he could keep making his money."

He sighed. "The problem is, we NEED to prepare for our true mission, but Norg will never allow it, and…"

Squall smiled. "I don't think Norg will be having much of a say in the way Garden is run from now on."

Cid gasped "You killed him?"

"We had to!" Rinoa piped in. "He wanted to have us sent to the Sorceress and he tried to kill us. We just defended ourselves." She shuddered at the thought of those huge, powerful hands wrapped around her throat.

"I see…" Cid nodded. He wasn't entirely sure how to feel about this. It was good that Norg was out the way, but he wished it hadn't had to have happened like that…

"So, our mission is to defeat the Sorceress then?" Squall came right out with it. "Is that why we were ordered to assassinate her?"

"That order never came from us." Cid shook his head. "Martine wanted her out because he didn't want to lose Galbadia Garden."

"But if we've got to kill her, what was wrong with attempting an assassination?" Squall was confused.

"I was hoping it wouldn't come to this." Cid sighed.

_Well, there's no tactful way around it then._

"Norg said Sorceress Edea is your wife." Squall came right out with it. "Is that true?"

Cid's face fell. "Yes, it's all very true." He sighed "She had been a Sorceress since she was 5. I married her, knowing this. We were happy." He looked on the verge of tears again. "We worked together, we were very happy. One day, Edea began talking about building the Garden to train SeeDs to fight the Sorceress. I became obsessed with the idea. But I worried about SeeDs goal, that one day, they may fight Edea."

Now Squall was REALLY confused. "Hang on!" he wanted to get something straight. "Edea wanted to train SeeDs to kill the Sorceress, whilst SHE was a sorceress? Why did she want to train people to kill her?"

Cid shook his head. "Not HER. There isn't only ONE Sorceress. When a sorceress dies, she passes her powers on to somebody else. So there are ALWAYS sorceresses about. The idea came about during the Sorceress war. Sorceress Adel was ruling Esthar at the time and she wreaked a reign of terror. No-one could stand against her. So that's why training people to fight sorceresses seemed like a good idea, in case someone like Adel ever became a sorceress again."

Things were falling into place now. He'd never heard how the Sorceress War ended. "So SeeDs killed Adel and stopped the Sorceress War…"

Cid just looked confused. "No… No-one knows what happened. One day Esthar just declared an abrupt end to the war, and they've maintained total silence ever since. There's been absolutely no contact with them ever since. It was about the time that interference became a problem and radio transmission became impossible."

"So, no-one knows what happened to Adel then?"

Cid shook his head. "No. So SeeD have never had to fight the Sorceress yet. But it looks like we may have to now."

"So… What do we do then?" he asked.

Cid scratched his head again. "We must stop drifting around soon… I only hope we can get things back to the way they were."

At that moment, Xu walked in.

"Headmaster! There's a ship approaching us."

"Galbadians?" Zell ventured.

"Possibly, or worse. The Sorceress could be aboard, coming to attack us."

"Squall, go and see who it is. There's a balcony on the second floor which could be a useful deck now that we're at sea." Cid told him.

Squall knew where it was, so he took Zell and Rinoa with him to investigate. Sure enough, below the balcony, was a large, thin ship, with two wing-like sails at the back. Clearly, it was designed for travelling at speed. On the deck of it were many figures clad entirely in white; save for the shoulder blades and boots, which were grey.

"Is headmaster Cid here?" One of the crew called. Squall recognised their uniform. It was the same uniform the figures who'd escorted that girl away from the training centre had worn.

"Who are you?" Squall wanted to find the important bits out first. "Are you from Galbadia?"

The leader shook his head. "We are SeeDs." He told Squall. "This is Edea's ship. We are Sorceress Edea's SeeDs."

Squall put one hand on his gunblade.

The leader held his hands up. "We're unarmed!" he called. "We're coming aboard."

Before Squall could protest, they'd got a ladder out and three of them climbed up to greet them. Squall drew his gunblade, and Zell and Rinoa had adopted a fighting stance.

"Please!" the leader raised his hand "We come in peace." By that time Cid and Xu had arrived.

"It's ok Squall." Cid told him. "They're telling the truth." Squall sheathed his gunblade and the White SeeDs saluted Cid.

"Headmaster, we've come for Ellone." The leader said. "It's too dangerous here now."

_Ellone? That girl from Winhill, in the dream world? WhoIrvine knew?_ Squall was even more confused now than ever before. Every answer he got seemed to lead to more questions!

Cid nodded and sighed. "Yes, I'm afraid you're right." Then he turned to Squall. "Squall, you know her, obviously. You go find her; I'm sure you'll want to say goodbye to her anyway."

He knew her? Only from the dream world…

All of a sudden, he knew who she was. Someone he knew but couldn't remember. That white uniform of the people who'd been protecting her? That girl he's seen in the infirmary and had rescued from the training centre; that was Ellone. But how did he know her? And if she knew Laguna… FINALLY, he might get some answers.

"Zell, Rinoa, wait here." He told them and disappeared back into Garden. As soon as he was out of sight, he began racing through Garden at an immense speed. He had a brief window of opportunity to find out what was going on, and he wasn't going to waste it. He just prayed that she would still be waiting in the library, if she wasn't, he may never see her again, and the questions could haunt him for the rest of his life.

So he was relieved to see as he entered the library that she was still there, calmly reading her book.

"Ellone." He called her name.

"Hi Squall." She smiled at him. "You remember anything now?"

"You know… Laguna, don't you?" he asked.

She smiled wistfully. "I do, I really love Uncle Laguna."

Squall exploded. "Then tell me! What is this that we experience?"

"I'm sorry Squall. It's hard to explain." She looked up at him. "But… one thing…It's about the past."

"We were viewing the past?" Squall asked. She nodded.

"People say you can't change the past. But I want to try. I want to see if there's a possibility."

He came right out with it now. "Are you the one sending us to that 'dream world'?"

She nodded again. "I'm sorry."

"Why me?" He was the only one who'd been there all three times. "Look, I'm a SeeD. I've got one contract on the go already. I'm facing repercussions from another one." He didn't tell all the details about the assassination, and the missiles and Norg, but he knew his involvement with Edea wasn't over yet. "I don't… I can't help you…" his voice trailed off.

"I'm sorry." She said again.

Xu interrupted the scene again. "Squall, did you… Are you Ellone?"

"Yes." Ellone replied simply.

"Are you alright?" Xu noticed the look on Squall's face. He just slumped into a seat. Ellone walked over to him.

"You're my only hope." She whispered to him. "If I can make this work, you'll find out why I had to use you. I was hoping you'd be ok about it. All this concerns you too, of course."

"Me? Why me?" he looked up, but she was already being led away by Xu to the White SeeD ship.

He watched, half in a trance as she climbed on the boat and it sailed away.

_Why do people rely on each other? _He thought _People should be able to take care of themselves. Sure I couldn't do a thing when I was a kid, but I'm an adult now. I have all the skills I need to survive. Sure I've depended on others before but…_

He realised, he'd be the first to admit he'd been here because of other people. And the more he thought about it, the more he began to wonder whether he was wrong. Quistis, Zell, Selphie, Irvine… even Rinoa. They'd all fought for him. He may be dead now if not for them all. He thought he knew everything he needed, then realised how little he knew in this whole scheme with the Sorceress, Cid, SeeD, and now he was being dragged into this business with Ellone and Laguna.

All he wanted was to be independent. He didn't want to have to rely on anyone and he just wanted someone to tell him how he could do that.

_Someone tell him?_

So he'd have to rely on others after all.

He realised he was dreaming. This was more than a dream though. This was a memory of his; one that had hurt him for years. It still hurt him now, as he stood out in the pouring rain, scanning the horizon, waiting for his sister. It was the moment that he realised she was never coming back and he'd never see her again.

"I'm all alone Sis." He was sobbing. "But I'll do my best. I'll be ok without you sis. I can take care of myself. Don't worry about me."


	23. Further Revelations

23. Further Revelations

"Hey again." He woke up the next morning to find Rinoa standing over his bed. He didn't even realise he'd slept so long.

"I wasn't asleep." He lied.

"Oh really? I think I heard you talking in your sleep."

He started.

"You were talking about your sister. Where is she?"

"She 'went away'. Just like my parents."

"She died." Rinoa's voice was full of sympathy. "My mum died in a car crash when I was five. I never had any brothers or sisters." She didn't even mention her father. Squall remembered something.

"Your mother… was her name Julia?" he sat up.

"Yes… she was." Rinoa was surprised.

"And she had a hit song, called 'Eyes On Me'?"

"You've heard of her?" Rinoa was surprised. "How?"

"I saw her in the 'dream world'" Squall told her.

"The 'dream world'? That dream you guys have when you pass out in the middle of nowhere?"

"It's not a dream." He told her what he knew now. "That girl Ellone, she's sending us there. We experience the past. All these events we see have actually happened."

"And, you saw my mother?" there was a new tone to her voice. "What was she like? I want to know."

"She used to play piano in the Deling City hotel." He told her. "That guy Laguna, he had a crush on her, and he used to go and see her play." She kept on looking, so he kept on talking. "One night, he went to her room, and she got the inspiration for the song, 'Eyes On Me' from him. They promised to see each other again, but then Laguna was sent away to Centra, he got injured and he got taken into care in a place called Winhill, where he met Raine and… Ellone…"

He wondered if there was some form of connection here, and if there was, he wanted to piece it together.

"And Julia… I mean… my mother, she thought he'd died? Why didn't he go back to her?"

"By the time he'd recovered, she'd already married your father, General Caraway."

"I see…" Rinoa was thinking now. What would have happened had Laguna and Julia got together? Would she never even have been born?

Squall was thinking now as well. Ellone had said this business involved him as well. But he couldn't see how he fitted in, yet he COULD see how Rinoa did. This was getting too confusing.

"Hey, do you want to get something to eat?" he needed to get his mind of things.

"Sure!" Rinoa smiled.

"OK, wait there while I get dressed."

Presently, he arrived outside, and the two of them headed for the cafeteria.

"What are you eating?" Squall asked her.

"I'll just have some eggs and toast." Rinoa looked at the breakfast menu. "Actually, I'll have a bowl of chips as well."

Squall nodded and ordered himself a full fry-up. There was nothing he had planned for the day; may as well enjoy a full breakfast.

"Go and find a table." He told Rinoa. "I'll bring the food over."

"Do you reckon I could enrol?" Rinoa asked him as he sat down.

"What do you mean?"

"Enrol in Garden. Become a SeeD?"

"I dunno." He thought about it. To remain in Garden, you had to pass the SeeD exam by the time you were 19. "How old are you?" he asked her.

"17." She reminded him.

"Then you'd have only two years to pass. I think that'd be hard." He told her.

"Oh." She nodded simply.

"Why?" he asked her motives.

She shrugged. "To learn to fight. To be like you. Be able to take on anything."

Anything? 

"It's not like I can do everything." He told her.

"You've managed to do everything I've asked of you so far."

"I failed to assassinate the Sorceress." He reminded her.

"That wasn't my order." She reminded him.

They were enjoying their meal, when the PA burst into life and Cid's voice came over.

"Hello everyone. This is the headmaster speaking. The lines have been fixed, and I'm glad to be back on the air. Hurrah! Um…" he paused, not sure what to say next. Then he seemed to find some inspiration. "Um everyone! Brace yourselves!"

"What's going on?" Rinoa looked at Squall.

"I don't know. I'm going to the bridge." he told her. He was halfway there, when there was an almighty crash and the entire Garden shook.

"Everybody, please remain calm." Cid's voice came over the intercom again. "Also, please do not leave the Garden under any circumstances until you are permitted. We will try to get things back in order ASAP. Thank you for your co-operation."

Squall strode onto the bridge feeling a little shaken, to see Cid staring out over the scene.

"Well, we've stopped drifting!" Cid informed him

"What happened, sir?"

"We've crashed into Fisherman's Horizon, also known as FH. It's a small fishing town on the disused railway bridge between Galbadia and Esthar. Here are your orders."

Squall stood to attention.

"Alright, at ease!" Cid laughed. "I want you to go ashore. Take Zell and Rinoa if you want. Find the local mayor and apologise for the accident. Tell them that we come in peace. Then, well, just take a look around the city!"

Squall looked a bit surprised at this order.

"SeeD isn't just about combat training!" Cid told him. "I want you to see the world. To broaden your horizons. I have high expectations of you Squall."

He couldn't help but be flattered, but couldn't help wondering why he was becoming the Headmaster's favourite all of a sudden. Cid called Rinoa and Zell to the bridge and Squall went down to meet them.

"So what's the plan?" Zell asked.

"We're going to Fisherman's Horizon." Squall took the official mode. "We'll make an official apology, then observe the town."

"Sounds ok to me." Zell nodded. "But how do we leave Garden? The main entrance just leads straight out onto the ocean?"

"Well the 2nd floor balcony should be well above sea-level." Mused Squall. "Perhaps we could go down via a ladder or something. Let's go and have a look at the situation anyway."

They were surprised to see, as they stepped out onto the balcony, that there was an outstretched platform to greet them. Standing on the end of it were three figures all wearing grease-stained overalls and caps. There were a couple of toolboxes lying around at their feet, Squall noticed, and presumed them to be mechanics.

"We've come to warn you before you go ashore." The first one started. "Do not engage in any type of armed conflict in the city. We do not tolerate belligerence here."

Squall nodded. "We are representatives of Garden. We come in peace. We've come to apologise for the accident, we didn't mean to crash into here. We've come to make an apology to the mayor."

The three men nodded. "OK, looks like we understand each other." He smiled. "Welcome to Fisherman's Horizon. We just call it FH."

"The mayor's house is in the middle of the city." The second man said.

Squall looked across at the town, which was quite unlike anything he'd ever seen before. It was all man-made alongside the railway track. It was built around a huge dish, filled with solar panels for energy Around the edge were windmills for when the sun had gone in. Dotted around the edge were various dwellings, and stretching out like arms were numerous extended platforms, both high above the town and down at sea-level. The high-level ones were mainly attached to large cranes and other pieces of machinery that Squall couldn't identify. The lower ones mainly had people sitting on the end fishing. This was a town built for independence of the outside world. In the middle of the strange world, directly in the centre of the solar dish, was a solitary dwelling. Judging by what the man had said, Squall (correctly) guessed that this was the mayor's house.

"I'm sorry about all the mess." Squall looked around. A second glance showed that many of the huge cranes were buckled in the middle, and various ropes and winches hung limp and useless from the mangled metal supporting them. As the appointed ambassador for Garden he couldn't help but feel personally responsible.

"Nah! Don't worry about it. The important thing is that nobody got hurt." The men shrugged. "We're all engineers. We love fixing stuff anyway. We'll make it better than new! Kick back and enjoy your stay."

"Friendly place anyway!" Rinoa smiled at Squall.

"Are you guys going to Esthar?" One of the men asked.

"Esthar?" Squall asked puzzled.

"You know… that hi-tech city. It's along the old train tracks. A lot of people who stop by here are heading that way. Guess you're not going there, huh? I hear no-one ever finds the city though, even though it's meant to be huge."

Squall shrugged. Esthar was certainly shrouded in mystery theses days, but it was none of his business.

The men showed them to the Mayor's house. Squall was about to walk in, when he noticed a familiar figure sitting outside, looking down despondently onto the solar panels. It was Martine, the Galbadian Garden Master.

"Martine!" Squall strode over to him.

"Oh it's you." Martine looked up at them. "You were the SeeDs involved in the assassination attempt. And… General Caraway's daughter I believe. I must confess, I'm surprised you're still alive after the Sorceress caught you."

"Never mind that. What's happened?" Squall wanted some more answers.

"What I said would happen. The Sorceress killed Deling and carried out her threats against Caraway and myself. We've both been relieved of duty."

"Why?" Rinoa was shocked.

"The Sorceress wanted Galbadia Garden for her base, and total control of the military. Which is why Caraway and myself wanted her assassinated." Martine saw no reason to hide the truth now.

"I'd be prepared if I were you. She's destroyed Trabia Garden, and I'm sure she's after Balamb. Furthermore, Galbadia Garden used to be a Centra Shelter, and they've got it up and running. It's mobile now."

"What does that look like to you?" Squall pointed at Balamb Garden.

"Balamb too? You mean… you're also mobile?" Martine was gobsmacked.

Squall nodded. He didn't admit that they didn't know how to manoeuvre it yet.

"Good luck to you, and Cid and Norg." Martine told them. "I don't want you to end up like me." He sighed. "The people of this town are very kind. They welcomed me in. Encouraged me to start again. It's still depressing to go back down to nothing though." He sighed again. Squall thought it was best to leave him in his thoughts. He didn't think he could get much more out of him that he didn't already know anyway.

They went into the Mayor's house and were marvelled at how it instantly seemed brighter in here than it had outside. Well-placed skylights captured the sun and beamed the rays in at strategic angles, over vases of beautiful flowers. Everything seemed so bright and cheerful.

"Are you from Garden? Please, have a seat." A man greeted them. He was in his late 30's, with light brown hair. He was wearing a simple green shirt and beige shorts. There was a smile on his face, that whilst kind and benign seemed to lack some warmth to it. It was their presence whilst accepted and tolerated, was not exactly wanted, like the man who would be a gracious host to unexpected guests, but not be sorry when they left.

They all sat down on a sofa opposite the Mayor and his wife.

"I'm Mayor Dobe, the head of FH." He told them.

"Squall Leonheart. I've been sent to represent Garden. This is Zell Dincht and Rinoa Heartilly." Squall did his introductions. Mayor Dobe nodded.

"Allow me to get right to the point. When are you leaving?"

"As soon as the Garden is capable of moving." Squall told him.

"Any idea when?"

Squall shook his head. "We only discovered that our Garden was mobile a short while ago. We've not figured out how to steer it, that's why… Well we never intended to come here. We crashed into FH because we didn't know how to steer away. It was an accident. I've been sent to make an official apology."

Mayor Dobe nodded again. "It's quite alright. If it was a genuine accident, as it sounds, your apology is more than accepted. In the meantime, our technicians will assist you. They should be able to repair and assist everything. How does that sound?"

Squall hesitated. It would mean letting outsiders into the Garden. Mayor Dobe read his thoughts.

"Go consult with your leader if you don't have the authority." He told him.

"Thank you sir. We'll do that." Squall rose to go, but Rinoa cut in.

"S'cuse me. Why do you want us to leave so bad?"

Squall put his head in his hands. This was not what they needed. Some people didn't approve of Garden and SeeD. They must have their reasons, it was none of their business.

"We are a pacifist town." Mayor Dobe informed them. "We don't want military organisations in FH. You rely on force to solve your problems, which is direct defiance of our principles."

It wasn't quite like that, Squall thought, but he could see where the mayor was coming from.

"We believe that any problem can be settled by discussion." They mayor's wife, Flo, told them. "If you can reach a mutual understanding, there is no need to fight."

Again, Squall could quite understand their viewpoint, even if it did sound a little dull. He also believed that sometimes, a fight was inevitable, but…

"Violence only leads to more violence." Mayor Dobe carried on. "We believe your presence here may attract violence. That's why we want you to leave as soon as possible."

Squall nodded. "It's quite alright, Mayor. We respect your views and we will not engage in violence whilst we are here. We'll go back to Garden and get the go-ahead for your technicians to assist us."

Mayor Dobe nodded, glad of the understanding. "Thank you, Mr Leonheart. Come back here when you have the news."

"Man, that geezer pissed me off!" Zell said once they were outside. "Squall, why didn't you tell him off?"

"Forget it." Squall shrugged. "Not everyone likes SeeD, remember? If they hate all forms of violence, well, it's none of our business."

They were turning to leave, when they noticed some of the townspeople running towards them.

"Galbadian soldiers!" They were shouting in panic.

"Oh, this could get interesting!" Zell grinned. They waited outside, and presently, Flo came out.

"Are the Galbadians here because of you? Are they after you?" she demanded.

"I've no idea." Squall shrugged.

"You'd better take full responsibility. It's your fault!"

"Fine! We'll take care of them." Squall said, though he didn't much like the tone of her voice.

"We mustn't rely on them. They won't be able to do anything without fighting." Mayor Dobe came out of his house.

"Oh, no, Mayor, you don't understand…" Rinoa began.

"I'll go talk to them." He said. "I'll find out what they want."

He walked off and Flo went back inside. The group looked at each other.

"He's a dead man." Zell shook his head.

"Come on, we'd better follow him, make sure he doesn't get himself killed." Rinoa said. "This is an order from your client." She added, before Squall or Zell could say it wasn't anything to do with them or something of that nature. "Just don't let him see us, or he'll kick up a fuss."

At the end of town, they found him, talking to a Galbadian Soldier.

"Why are they wasting their time with him if they're after us and our Garden?" Zell asked.

"Who says they are? Let's listen in." Squall's face was grim. He beckoned for them to crouch out of sight.

"It kills me to help that old fart!" Zell muttered.

"I already told you." Mayor Dobe was saying to the soldier. "I've never heard of this girl Ellone. There is nobody here by that name!"

_Ellone?_

All three started in surprise at the mention of her name. None of them were expecting that.

The Soldier shrugged. "Fine. We'll just have to torch this city."

"Wait a minute!" Dobe started to panic now. "I'm telling the truth! I've never seen this girl!"

The Soldier merely laughed. "It doesn't matter, old man. We're going to burn this place to the ground anyway! Edea's orders!"

"There's no need for that!" Dobe was really getting scared now. "Look, what have you got to accomplish by doing that? Let's just…"

He never got to finish his sentence; the soldier picked him up and looked him in the face.

"Do what?" he snarled. "I have my orders. We are to burn this city to the ground. You've wasted enough of my time already, so I'll start with you!"

That was all they needed to hear. They raced in to help him out.

"Who the hell are you?" The soldier dropped Mayor Dobe on the sight of these three leaping in, arms at the ready.

"We're SeeDs!" Squall informed him darkly. The man looked taken aback.

"SeeDs! Get the Iron Clad over here!" he yelled to some other soldiers standing nearby.

"I'm sorry! We have no choice!" Squall looked at the figure of Mayor Dobe lying on the floor.

Two soldiers ran up to assault them. Squall instantly drew his gunblade and with a casual swing sliced the head off the first one. His friend, at almost the same time, met a similar fate as Rinoa's projectile tore through his neck. Their bodies crashed to the floor, as Mayor Dobe turned his back, a tear springing to his eye.

By now though, five more soldiers were running to attack them. Catching her pinwheel, Rinoa hurled it out again and took another soldier out. The remaining four split themselves up. Two of them ran for Squall, who stuck his gunblade in the first man's stomach and pulled the trigger, burning a huge hole in his chest. Retracting his blade, Squall looked at his other opponent. Before he could do anything though; Zell leapt through the air and knocked the man clean over, where Squall could finish him easily. The man who'd attacked Zell was also lying on the floor. Squall couldn't tell if he was dead or unconscious, but either way, he wouldn't be of any more hassle to them. They then turned their attention to Rinoa.

She may have been a good aim with her pinwheel, but at close quarters, there wasn't a lot she could do; so Squall simply stuck his gunblade into the man's back and finished him there and then.

"Thanks!" Rinoa breathed, but before Squall could reply, a huge rumbling noise interrupted them. They turned to see a huge truck heading towards them. It looked all burnt out, and it had two large engines on it. It looked like there should have been six; but four of them had been blown away. It still had a very large, very real, very powerful looking cannon on it. To make matters worse, the Galbadian captain had reappeared with more reinforcements. The truck started up it's cannon… and shot all the Galbadian soldiers down in one as Squall, Zell and Rinoa stared open-mouthed.

The truck then powered down and three Galbadian soldiers climbed out and removed their helmets.

"Woohoo!" Selphie cried as she saw them.

"We sheltered inside it when the missile base blew up!" Irvine explained, seeing the looks on their faces.

"And hid in the uniforms so we wouldn't be found out." Quistis finished off.

Relief flooded over Squall like a tidal wave. They were all right!

"Hey guys!" he smiled at them. "Good to see you again!"

"What happened to Garden?" Selphie asked the most important question on their minds.

"Balamb Garden is safe!" he told them. He smiled again, imagining their reaction when they found out it was mobile.

"Woohoo!" Selphie shouted again. It was their turn to be relieved this time.

"So what are you guys doing here?" Irvine asked.

"What happened to the missile base?" Zell spoke in unison.

"We'll talk about that later." Squall decided. There was too much to fill in here. Plus he noticed Mayor Dobe looking despondently at the carnage that lay around in his pacifist's utopia. "Uh, Zell, Rinoa, why don't you guys take them back to the Garden? I've got some things I need to do."

"Ok, sure!" Zell agreed.

"Back to Garden? It'll take a while, won't it?" Quistis was puzzled.

"I'll explain on the way." Zell decided as he led them all off. Rinoa, however, stuck around.

"You know, you surprised me just there." She told him. "You looked and sounded so happy to see them. It was the first time I've seen you so honest. It was really… sweet!" She felt happy at seeing this side of Squall other than the cold, distant person he normally portrayed himself as. Squall was also surprised at her reaction.

"I was happy to see them!" he exclaimed. "You think I don't care? Just because I don't get involved with other people's affairs doesn't mean I don't care about people. I was so worried that I'd sent them to their deaths, that… Well, I was glad to know they were all safe. What's so surprising about that?"

"No! There's nothing wrong!" She comforted him. "It's good that you care. They're your comrades, but also…" her voice softened a touch "…they're your friends!"

Friends, huh? 

She looked at him differently now. "Hey, Squall…" she paused. "Um, would you have been worried about me, too? Y'know if I were with them instead?"

"Well, yes!" he was a bit taken aback at the way she was looking at him. "I'd like to know you were safe and… well. Um…"

"Oh my gosh! You're turning red!" Rinoa put her hand to her mouth and giggled.

"I'm not!" he defended himself.

"You're so cute! Taking everything so seriously!" she laughed again. "I'll see you later Squall!" she decided to leave and spare him any further embarrassment.

Squall sighed. There was something more unpleasant he had to do now.

"Are you ok?" he walked over to Mayor Dobe.

"I guess you saved my life." He conceded grudgingly.

"I'm sorry we had to…" he didn't know how to finish his sentence.

"I know." He nodded. "I'm not thanking you though."

"You don't have to." Squall told him. He could only imagine how the poor man must feel. "It's just that…" he scratched his head. He could understand the mayor's desire for peace. Well, who couldn't? But the Mayor couldn't understand…

"I wish you could be a little more understanding about us." He sat down next to the Mayor. "People who learn to fight don't necessarily do it to be warmongers. Many do it simply to defend."

"Oh?" The Mayor looked over at him.

"I mean… it'd be great if people could defend what they loved, and things could be settled without resorting to violence. But sometimes, that just isn't possible. There are situations where a problem cannot be settled with discussion."

"Every problem should be able to be settled by discussion." It wasn't a protestation or a denial of what Squall had said. More arguing his own thoughts and making a sad statement about the world.

"It should." Squall agreed. "But that can only work if the other side are willing to listen and discuss back with you. Take just now, for example. The Galbadians had been instructed to burn down the city, so that is what they were going to do, regardless. There couldn't be a discussion there, because for them, there was nothing to discuss. So the only way to protect against the violence there, is to take up arms and fight back. It's sad, I know but…" he looked over at the Mayor. He could tell he knew that what Squall was saying was right, he just wished it wasn't. Squall tried to console him a little.

"I think the world needs both people like you, and people like us." He said. "People like you to put forward the notion that fighting isn't always necessary, and people like us to protect when it is. Well, that's all I have to say." He could see this wasn't what they Mayor wanted to hear, but… Well, that was just the cold truth of it. "Thank you for your help. Good Bye."

He turned and left the Mayor to his thoughts. He needed to get back to Garden and talk to Cid. There was something odd here. Why were the Galbadians after Ellone? It didn't make sense. Ellone was only one girl in the whole world. Unless… Ellone said she was the one sending them to the 'dream world'. So that meant she could make people experience the past. Perhaps the Galbadians were after her for that reason. But what did they hope to accomplish with that? He was approaching Garden again, when he heard someone call him.

"Hey, Squall!"

He turned round. It was Irvine.

"The headmaster gave the ok to let the technicians into Garden. They've got to work already. They reckon it'll only be a couple of days."

Well, that was good news. He felt they'd already outstayed their welcome in FH.

"OK." He nodded.

"Say…" Irvine looked a bit awkward. "I was just, uh, wondering…"

"Yeah?" Squall prompted.

"Well, those technicians seem very handy, right? So, like… would it be ok if I asked them to fix some other stuff?"

"It's not up to me!" Squall shook his head. "You'll need to ask Cid. But as long as it doesn't slow down work on the Garden, I can't see it being that much of a problem!"

"Right, ok!" Irvine nodded. "Let's get back to Garden then."

He followed Squall.

"What are you going to do now?" he asked him.

"I'd better give my report to the Headmaster." Squall told him.

"Well, before that… Well, Selphie's feeling really down. And, I thought I should let you know since you're kind of like everybody's leader. I think you should go talk to her." He nudged him. "I know you're a klutz at these things, so I'll back you!"

Just what was Irvine expecting of him here? But he decided it was easier just to play along.

It was a bit harder for them to get back in with all the machinery blocking the way, but they managed to struggle their way through.

"I didn't expect all this heavy machinery!" Irvine grumbled.

"So how did you think they were going to fix it?" Squall looked at him. "With hammers and nails?"

"Hey! This isn't my department!" Irvine went on the defensive.

"So what is?"

"Guns and women of course!" Irvine grinned.

Squall just shook his head and went to find Selphie.

She was in the quad looking at the stage that had been set up for the Garden Festival. The stage was a complete mess.

"This is so bad!" she was moaning.

"Yeah, It's been crazy what with Garden moving and crashing into FH." Squall agreed.

"Y'know, I really wanted to see a band perform on this stage for the Garden Festival." She sighed wistfully. "I even had my eyes set on a few people too. Oh well…" she slumped down.

"Come on. I'm sure you can still do something!" Squall did his best to try and cheer her up.

She managed an ironic smile. "Squall? Being sensitive? Wow! You're the last person I expected to try and cheer me up. I must really look depressed!"

Squall was taken aback. It wasn't that he didn't care about others. But there were just too many things in this world that couldn't be helped. So why bother talking about everything?

"See! See! There you go! Off into your own little world again! And you're not gonna share anything huh?" Selphie dived in on the attack.

"Yeah, whatever. I've got to go and see the Headmaster." Squall made his excuse and left.

Irvine wasted no time. "Squall's right though, we can still do something. Let's get the fun started!"

"Fun? What fun?" Selphie was intrigued.

"So like… first, we'll ask the FH technicians if they can fix the stage. If they can fix the Garden, this should be a piece of cake, right?"

"Do you think they'll do it?" Selphie's eyes lit up with hope.

"I'll back you! I'm sure they will!" Irvine told her.

"So that means…"

"Yup! You can have a band perform. Hell, you can do the entire festival!"

"Woo-hoo! Let's go!" Selphie was fired up again.

Irvine was in an equally good mood. He felt he was all set to make his move.

Up in Cid's office, Squall had just finished his report on the Sorceress assassination attempt.

"One more thing." Squall told him. "It appeared that the Galbadians were searching for Ellone. That seemed to be their main objective in FH.

"And…" he remembered something else. "Regardless of whether they found her or not, they had orders to burn the city to the ground."

"That would help reduce the number of potential places she could hide." Cid reasoned.

Squall nodded. It made sense to him.

"I believe Sorceress Edea is behind this." Squall voiced his opinion.

"I'm sure she is." There was a sad look in Cid's eyes. "I doubt she will stop this onslaught until Ellone is found. She will continue to hunt her, ruthlessly, destroying everything in her path."

He reached a decision. "We can't wait any longer! The true battle for SeeD, to defeat the Sorceress has begun!"

Squall nodded. It was about time they got down to business. Cid stepped up to the intercom.

"This is Headmaster Cid. I have an announcement to make." He told Garden. "I have important news that I must share with all of you. The Garden is being repaired right now. We will be leaving FH as soon as it is ready. We are about to fight the true battle of SeeD, to defeat the Sorceress. Garden will now be used as a mobile base. The Garden Staff and myself will run the administration of Garden as usual.

As for the battles… I expect there to be many. A well-qualified leader is needed for this. Therefore, I am appointing Squall Leonheart as your new leader!"

A look of utter horror registered on Squall's face. He couldn't be serious!

"Squall will be deciding our destinations and battle plans." Cid continued. "Everyone please follow his orders. If there are any objections, please come see me in person." He finished.

I don't even have a choice!? 

"Squall, we're under you're command from now on." Cid turned to him. "This is your fate!" He told him seeing the look on Squall's face. "It is your destiny to lead the way in defeating the Sorceress."

Squall finally snapped. "Don't talk about this like it's been decided since my birth!" he yelled.

"Squall, you have to do this." Cid softened his voice. "I cannot explain it right now, because I couldn't tell you in a way you would understand. But it has to be you. When you are successful, you will understand why."

Squall left. He couldn't believe that this was happening. It wasn't that he minded fighting the Sorceress. It was unavoidable as long as he was a SeeD member. But then what if he quit? He wondered. But then what did he have? He didn't want to think about it. Just stop thinking he decided.

That night he had the same dream. Of him as a child, waiting for his sister to come back.

"I'm all alone Sis." He was sobbing. "But I'll do my best. I'll be ok without you sis. I can take care of myself. Don't worry about me."

It must have been shortly after that that he arrived in Garden. But he couldn't remember exactly how long.

He'd just have to do as he was told, he decided. Command the Garden and kill the Sorceress. It'd be best to fight her now and stop all this nonsense he thought. Then he remembered that she was the Headmaster's wife! Cid wanted him to kill his wife? What did it feel like to give an order like that?


	24. A Moment Of Calm

24. A Moment of Calm

"OK, listen up everyone!" Irvine got the meeting into action. "Here's our producer, Selphie!"

"Ahem!" Selphie jumped into action. "We aren't holding the entire Garden Festival as planned, we don't have the time to prepare. It's going to be more of a concert really. The performance isn't just for the students as usual though. It's going to be dedicated to Squall, y'know to congratulate him on his recent promotion."

They all nodded. It made sense to them. Squall had worked and fought hard. They all felt he deserved this, but they could also tell this was not exactly how he saw it.

"So, what do we do?" Zell asked.

"Ok. We're organising the whole thing. Irvine's asked around FH and we've got a couple of bands together. They're going to be playing on the stage." Selphie consulted her list of notes. "We've invited everyone in FH, as a way of thanking them for their help."

"And to apologise for what happened!" Irvine cut in. "Even if we saved them, I don't think they're too happy about having violence in their town."

The others all nodded. Mayor Dobe hadn't even spoken to them since the event. All the forwarding between Garden and FH had been done via a third party of technicians.

"But we do have permission to hold the performance in FH itself." Selphie told them. "A lot of residents have accepted their invites. Going by the list of students still in Garden, i.e. those who didn't evacuate, and the residents of FH confirmed, we're budgeting for about two and a half thousand people."

Zell whistled. "So where are we holding it?"

"In the centre of the dish in the middle of town." Selphie replied.

"The giant solar dish?" Quistis raised an eyebrow.

"It'll be at night, so the panels wouldn't be working anyway." Irvine reminded her. "We're relaying all power from Garden. The technicians are helping us with that."

"You still haven't said what WE do!" Zell wanted to cut to the chase.

"Well, just to help out the running of it really." Selphie told him. "I've got the bands, but I'm still going to need help doing the other things."

"What do you need?" Quistis asked.

"Irvine, you've got the list." Selphie turned to him.

"Let's see…" Irvine looked at his sheet of paper. "Stage setting up. Are the bands doing that?"

"Yes." Selphie replied. "Well, the techs are setting up the stage and the bands are arranging it how they want it. What else?"

"Catering. The kitchen staff have got that one sorted." Irvine checked it off. "Um, we need someone behind the sound-decks and lighting. Anyone good with sound?"

"Oh no, you can count me out. I have absolutely no musical aptitude." Quistis shook her head.

"I hate machines, so I need someone else." Selphie grimaced.

"Yo! Leave that one to me then." Zell volunteered. "I'm cool with machines."

"OK then." Selphie agreed.

"I'll have a go at doing something." Rinoa offered. "If you show me how to do it."

"Sorry Rinoa." Selphie shook her head. "You're not going to be a part of this."

"You're leaving me out?" Rinoa was hurt.

"Yup! We have something more important for you to do." Irvine grinned. He'd already noticed that despite his anti-social-ness, Squall seemed to be a bit more, well, human when Rinoa spoke to him. And she seemed to enjoy speaking to him and being in his company. He'd decided to try and give things a little push.

"OK." Rinoa nodded. She didn't know what he had planned for her, but at least she got to do something.

"OK then, Quistis? Do you mind just general helping out then?" Selphie asked her.

"Sure. As long as it's nothing too technical." Quistis wasn't a big fan of machinery either.

"Great! OK we have two days to prepare, this is how it's going to work…" Selphie began to get down to business…

Squall had confined himself to his room for the majority of the day. As the others already knew, he wasn't entirely happy about his recent appointment. He'd always been one for following orders, rather than giving them. He was also confused about just why the Headmaster had put him, only a SeeD of less than a couple of months, in charge of the whole business. OK, so he was a good fighter, but still…

He didn't even like thinking about this new responsibility. Walking around the Garden he'd had people applauding him, cheering him, or asking for advice and being just general nuisances. Even if he tried not to make a big deal out of everything, everyone else did. In desperation, he'd finally retired to his room. But even there he'd not been able to get the peace he wanted, people were constantly knocking on his door. People he didn't even know! At first he'd assumed it would be Rinoa knocking on his door, or one of the others, but he hadn't heard from them for the past two days or so.

Finally, he'd just blocked out all the noise he could hear and resigned it to background noise and slowly drifted into a half-sleep. He didn't know how long he'd been in that state, but realised something had caught his attention. He listened for a minute or two, before he realised what it was. It wasn't what he could hear, it was what he **couldn't** hear. Anything at all. He sat up in surprise. This was certainly unusual in the normal run of things in the Garden let alone in the situations that were going on right now. There was no clattering and banging from the technicians, or the sound of machinery. He looked at his clock. It was past half 8 and there was no sound of students running around or getting drunk.

He sat up and opened the door. The dorms were deserted. He looked in his kitchen. That looked normal enough. Empty beer bottles and dirty dishes piled up everywhere, but there wasn't a soul in sight.

Frantically he started racing through the corridors to the main section of the garden, but he still couldn't find anyone. Finally, as he reached the entrance, he heard some whispering. He stole his head round the corner and breathed a sigh of relief.

It was Quistis, Zell and Rinoa. They turned round, and as soon as they saw him, Quistis and Zell raced off. Confused, he walked out into the open.

"So what's up?" Rinoa greeted him. He looked her up and down. Her hair looked like a stylist had spent two days effort getting it perfect. Her make-up was flawlessly applied. Her skin looked as soft as silk, and her lips glistened. She was wearing the same sleeveless cream dress as the night he'd danced with her at the Graduation Ball. She was wearing diamond earrings and a necklace to match.

Quite clearly, she was dressed to impress and Squall had to admit, she looked stunning.

"Are you ok? You look so down." She smiled at him and looked directly into his eyes.

"Just tired" he sighed and his body seemed to sag.

Rinoa's smile faded. She'd never seen him looking so down.

"Come on, Squall, how old are you?" she put her hand on his shoulder. "You're still only a teenager. Why don't you act like one for a change?"

"Don't feel like one." He replied simply. And it was true.

"Why not?" she asked, puzzled.

He sighed. "Would a mere child of 17 be put in charge of an entire military squad?"

"You're not just a mere child though Squall. I've seen you fight and…"

"Hey what is it?" He threw his arms up in frustration. "One minute you say I should act like a teenager and now you're saying that I'm not…"

"Squall!" Rinoa interrupted gently him, then paused, unsure what to say. She shook her head. "Never mind! Get changed into your SeeD uniform!"

"My uniform? Why?" He was confused, but he allowed himself to be led back to his room.

"Get changed!" She smiled. He paused, aware that she was in the room with him.

"I won't look!" Her eyes went all innocent and she turned away, tossed her hair back and walked out the room, leaving the door slightly ajar.

Squall sighed and changed into his SeeD uniform. Through the reflection in the mirror, he caught a glimpse of her on the other side of the door, applying a bit more lipstick and spraying a touch more perfume on.

Changed, he stepped out the door.

"Hey, look at you!" She smiled, and it was her turn to look him up and down. "OK, then, let's go to the party!"

_A Party? So THAT'S where everyone was!_

It was quite clear she wasn't going to take no for an answer. Something clicked into place. He guessed this was Selphie's doing; she loved parties and she'd sent Rinoa along to make sure he came. But there was nothing else to do, and it may help him get his mind off things.

"Why not?" Finally, he broke into a smile. Rinoa was overjoyed.

"Yes!" She jumped up and clapped her hands. "Shall we then?"

He paused unsure, what she meant, but she put her arm through his, and together they walked off towards FH.

Squall stopped when he saw the set up. The giant solar dish around Mayor Dobe's house had been turned into one of the classiest set-ups he'd ever seen. The panels were all upturned, so it was like a gigantic staircase going all the way down, where there was a stage on the island, and a huge dance floor in front of it. All along the dish were tables, elegantly set up with full cutlery, candles and flowers. Everywhere people were kitted out in SeeD uniforms, DJs or evening dresses.

"And we've had another arrival. And it's a big one!" a typically cheesy announcer's voice, that could only belong to Zell drawled over the PA. "It's the SeeD Commander himself, Mr Squall Leonheart!"

A round of applause broke out across FH, as Squall stared, open-mouthed.

"Commander!?" He choked. Hearing giggling, he turned to see Xu and Quistis, glass of wine in their hands, also resplendent in their SeeD uniforms, looking at him.

"We thought you should have a title!" Quistis explained.

"So Quistis and I decided on Commander!" Xu finished, then without warning, walked over and gave him a brief hug, followed by a kiss on each cheek. Quistis instantly followed suit, while Squall stood, frozen to the spot, completely taken back by the whole seen. Rinoa stood with her hand over her mouth, trying to keep from laughing out loud as Squall's bewilderment.

"So, she convinced you, huh?" Irvine strode over in a white, cowboy-style tux and, grinning from ear-to-ear, quietly led Squall away.

"Looking good together." He grinned in an altogether different manner than before, and cast a knowing look at Rinoa. "Have fun. Just let it all out tonight!"

Squall closed his eyes, and covered his face with his hands.

_Oh man! This guy is sick!_

"Are you finished?" he asked, wearily.

"Yup!" Irvine grinned again. "I might be around later with a special someone too!" He winked. "Have fun! It's your night!" and took off.

_My night?_

He ran after Irvine.

"Irvine, what's going on?" Squall wanted to know.

This time Irvine did not smile. "Come on, man! I'm about to make my move!" He hissed desperately. At that moment, Squall noticed Selphie standing behind Irvine, also, dressed up in her SeeD uniform.

"Oh hi! Squall!" she noticed him too. "What you guys up to?"

Irvine opened his mouth to speak, but Selphie cut him off.

"I'll leave you boys to it! There's some things I've got to take care of!" and with that, she turned and left.

Irvine reached forward as if trying to hold her back, then sagged.

"Oh well…" It was Squall's turn to grin.

"Aww man! Thanks a lot!" Irvine moaned in frustration. Shaking his head, Irvine ran off after her, leaving Squall alone again.

"Hey don't run off like that again!" Rinoa came back over to join him grinning, and handed him a glass of champagne.

"Come on!" she said, taking his hand, "the band's about to start." And she led him down towards the stage.

"Squall! You big stud!" Selphie was on the main stage already. "OK, everyone! Mars and The Planets are about to take to the stage for you. And may I remind you, this night is dedicated to celebrate the promotion of Squall Leonheart to Commander! Woo-hoo!" She jumped up and led the applause again.

"Thank you for that speech, from our Producer, Miss Selphie Tilmitt, and now, for our Commander Squall, may I present: Mars And The Planets!" came Zell's cheesy compere voice again.

_This is all for me?_

All of a sudden, he just wanted to disappear. Everyone was looking at him, he was the centre of attention. He even had a band playing for him. The typical party band with the ridiculous name, and it was for him. He did the natural thing anyone would do in awkward circumstances. He finished his drink.

"Squall! Relax! You look so tense!" Rinoa put another one in his hand.

"I try not to make a big deal out of this as it is. Now there's a whole concert dedicated to it!" Squall moaned.

"Yeah, we were talking about all that." Rinoa led him to a table and they sat down next to each other. "Things are gonna get real tough for you, huh?" She smiled in sympathy.

His head hung. She was right of course, but he just didn't want to think of it.

She continued "I'm sure there'll be a lot of difficult things that you'll have to deal with from now on. We were talking about that, and saying how you'll probably try to handle everything on your own."

_I probably will._

"They know you too well. I do, too, although I haven't been around you that long." She held her head in her hand "Y'know, when you start thinking you tend to frown like this."

He realised he was in exactly the same position as she was. He lifted his head up again.

"I'm sorry!" She apologised. "But really, we were saying that…well… You can't handle everything on your own."

"Hey, look…" he shook his head.

She turned her chair round to face him and held his hands. "We want you to talk to us a little more. That's all." Her voice softened and she looked up at him. "Y'know, if there's anything you want to tell us, or anything we can do, don't hesitate to let us know. I know it's not easy but I wish you would trust and rely on us a little more."

He hung his head. _Am I this untrusting?_ He wondered if they were upset by it. He felt a little bad about it, but it just felt so much safer. Zell, Quistis, Irvine, Selphie, and of course, Rinoa. It felt great that they believed in him, but he felt that they were getting too close. And one day, of course, they'd all be gone. Consigned to nothing but memory. And he'd miss them all, and want them back. Just like his sister. It had taken his ages to get over the loss of her, his closest friend and the one who'd always been there. Losing her was the hardest thing of his life and he'd been so miserable. All he knew was that he never wanted to go through that again. If he let them get too close, it would happen again. Five times over. And he'd meet more people, it would happen again…

"Squall?" She sunk her head and looked into his eyes again. He sat back up and looked away. Again, in a moment of awkwardness, he took another drink. At that moment, the band chimed in. Rinoa's face lit up.

"Come on!" she stood up and picked him up out of his chair. "I know you can dance to this!"

He realised it was the same song he'd danced with her to at the Ball. Clearly, someone had planned this very well indeed. But she was right, he could dance to it. Maybe he should use this as a good reminder, of two good times? Without changing his expression, he led the dance again and as he did, he began to relax. At the end of it, they ended up in each others arms again, only this time she did not pull away. A new, slow song began, and they danced slowly, in time, hugged up close to each other. Rinoa rested her head on his shoulder, he kept looking up, and just stared directly, unfocusing ahead.

"What a night." She sighed in his ear. "Great music… Good-looking guy…" she huddled closer, playfully. "Not only is he good-looking. He's the sweetest guy… a great listener. Right now, he's seriously thinking about what I said. He's shy and doesn't say anything." She dropped her voice again. "But I know." She whispered and then pulled away slightly, not breaking off the dance, but so she could see his face. "So what do you think? None of our business?"

He closed his eyes and shook his head. "I appreciate this. You're right, even though I don't say anything, I do." He felt he ought to let them know that much, it was only fair. "Don't think I don't, because I do." He hesitated. "But…"

"No Buts!" She insisted. "I know you're enjoying this, my company, or you wouldn't still be on the floor with me. I know you enjoy all of our company really. These moments may never come again. All of us, I feel we're all friends now really. A group. And this might be the only time we'll all be together"

"That's the point." Squall told her. "And what happens then. When we're such great friends, and then we all lose each other. Do you have any idea what it's like to fell that? When your friends aren't there the next day?"

"Squall, there are no guarantees for the future!" She chuckled. "Who says we won't always be together? That's the thing! No-one knows what will happen tomorrow? That's why TODAY, the time we have, is important. To make the most of every day. And we want to help you as much as we can, for as long as we can! We all love you Squall! Don't freak out about it! We just want to enjoy our time together and we want you to enjoy it with us!" She winked. "Keep it in the back of your mind. I know there's no guarantees, but I've a feeling we'll be together for a while. And about tomorrow, well, who knows?"

Another thought entered her mind.

"What do you want from the future though Squall? Any dreams"

_Dreams?_ He remembered the incident with Seifer at the communications tower. He'd wanted to know the same thing. He'd got his goal really, become a SeeD, and now… more than that. He was in charge of SeeD! That was far more than he ever wanted.

"I don't know." He confessed. "I try not to think about it." He looked down at her. "How about you?"

"I don't know. I try not to think about it either I guess." She shrugged. "I prefer right now! And right now…" she huddled up close to him again. "I wanna stay right here… like this."

He didn't resist this time and held her close, resting his head on hers, when he caught something in the corner of his eye. Irvine was flashing a huge cheesy grin at him and giving him a thumbs up. All of a sudden, the moment was gone. He could quite tell what Irvine was thinking. As if to coincide, a new song started up, one which Rinoa obviously didn't recognise. In unison, they pulled back.

"Squall, what's wrong?"

Squall didn't answer, but Rinoa looked behind herself at where he was staring.

As she did so, Irvine hurriedly dropped the grin and gesture and turned away, but all too late. The mood was spoiled for Rinoa as well.

"Um, shall we get another drink?" Rinoa tried to break the awkwardness.

"Yeah." Squall agreed, and they headed to the bar.

Squall's feeling of awkwardness was not eased when the bartender informed him "All drinks are free of charge to you sir."

"Yeah, um…" Squall was aware of several students all watching him. Hastily, he ordered two glasses of wine and handed one to Rinoa. They turned to leave the bar, but Squall was stopped by one student who was clearly the worse for wear by now.

"Hey, man! It's you!" the youth slurred. "Hey, you're something you know? Making Commander already? How'd you manage it?"

"Train." Squall replied simply.

"Well, yeah, man you know… I try and stuff, but… well, ah, I dunno, guess you're just a natural, eh?" he jostled Squall. "Hey, have a drink on me!"

Before Squall could protest, the man had thrust a pint into Squall's empty hand. He made to leave, but realised he was surrounded by students, all eager to speak to him. Once more, in awkwardness, he took some of his drink.

"Look, can you just…" he tried to motion for them to step aside.

"Yeah, he's got his lady friend to go to, heh heh!" The students all nudged each other knowingly. Going crimson, Squall walked through the throng to join Rinoa at her table. Quistis, Xu, Selphie and Irvine were also present by this point.

"Two drinks? Didn't know you were the one to go at it, Squall?" Xu looked at him.

"No, one of the students bought me…" he trailed off.

"They all look up to you, Squall. And I'm sure they want to get on the right side of the Commander…" Quistis grinned.

"Yeah… Commander…" Squall sighed.

"Drink it! It'll make you relax!" Irvine grinned.

"Hey! Don't force him!" Selphie nudged him.

Squall took another sip anyway. _If there's anything you want to tell us, don't hesitate to let us know._ Rinoa's words came back to him.

"Guys, please. I don't want people to make a big deal out of this, ok?" He begged.

"Sure, I know it can be tough." Xu thought back to how scared she was when she first got her promotion.

"Being crowded at the bar, having all those people like… I'd just rather be left alone." He sighed.

"Well why didn't you just go through those guys then?" Zell joined the table.

"I had a drink in each hand." Squall explained.

"Well, I dunno." Zell shrugged. "Hey, I'm getting my drink anyway. I'll get you one too man, my way of saying congratulations." He held out his hand. Squall just sighed. Zell waited a couple of seconds for Squall to respond and then headed to the bar.

"He arrived after you asked us not to make a big deal of it." Rinoa patted him on the shoulder. Squall just sighed again. "Hey, come on! You were going to act like a teenager tonight!" she reminded him.

Squall forced a smile and, after some hesitation, finished his glass of wine. He then took a sip of beer.

"You shouldn't really mix wine and beer." Quistis sounded concerned.

"Don't you start!" Rinoa laughed accusingly at her.

"Hey, come on guys! We'll be leaving soon! Let's enjoy this party time!" Irvine raised his hands. "Tonight, there are no Instructors, Assistant Headteachers or Commanders! We are all just friends at a party!" he announced, and raised his glass. "To forgetting all sense of responsibility!"

Squall smiled for real this time. That was certainly something he thought right now he could drink to. He raised his glass as well. Laughing, and shaking their heads, the other four raised their glasses.

"To forgetting all sense of responsibility!" They chorused and drank the toast.

"Woohoo! We're all just party animals tonight!" Selphie was getting animated.

"We don't have to be too much like them though do we?" Xu gestured towards the completely pissed and rowdy students gathered round the bar. Having failed with Squall, the students were now engaging Zell in drunken conversation.

"Hey, c'mon guys! I got to get back to my friends now, seriously!" Zell laughed.

"Hey, c'mon Mr SeeD! Enjoy yourself tonight! Get hammered!" One of the youths promptly necked his pint to a roar of approval from his friends.

"I am enjoying myself! It's just that…" Zell tried to move through the crowd, but one of the youths turned round and knocked into him, sending him staggering back and spilling half the contents of one of his pints all over the floor.

The students all roared in joy!

"Spillage!" One of them cried.

"You know what you have to do know don't you?" another nudged Zell, who's face was a mixture of puzzlement, apprehension, and a little fear.

"SHOE!" They all cried.

"Shoe?" Zell repeated, not entirely liking the sound of it.

"Come on, Shoe it!" the ring leader urged him.

"Look guys, I'm just going to…" Zell made to leave again. Without warning, the students grabbed hold of him, two on each arm. They took his drinks off him and another removed his shoe. They tipped the remnants of the spilt pint into it and forced it down Zell's already open mouth, as the table watched in disgust.

Irvine was in stitches. Selphie and Rinoa were also very amused.

"So that's what students are up to these days is it?" Xu shook her head.

"Aww, man, my shoe's soaked!" Zell moaned. "Here Squall." He handed the remaining pint to Squall, who took a gulp, to be polite. "Someone else go to the bar next time."

"Hey, let's just go back to our positions for a minute!" Xu grinned and beckoned to one of the caterers.

"What are you up to?" Selphie was mystified, but her curiosity was soon satisfied when the caterer returned with a 7 glasses and a bottle of Champagne.

"I, er, kinda had this set aside to drink a toast to you Squall." Xu informed him with a mixture of embarrassment and apology.

Squall let out another deep sigh. But he could tell they all meant well.

"Go on then, pour me a glass."

Xu handed them each a glass and then raised her own. "To Squall!"

"To Squall!" They all chorused and drank the toast.

"Now can we please drop this!"

Everyone laughed. "Sure!" They agreed. Rinoa gave his arm a little squeeze.

"Thought you were hosting anyway?" Selphie reminded Zell.

"The other guy said if I erm… wanted to go and congratulate my friend…" Zell looked awkward. "Look, man, I know you don't want to make a big deal, but I didn't know that and…"

"It's ok, thank you!" Squall broke him off to the astonishment of the others. He'd told Rinoa, he decided, he'd let the others know. "All of you, thank you. I appreciate this, that you believe in me. I mean it."

The table all smiled. They didn't pressure anything else out of him. They knew how he felt, that he wasn't one for expressing his feelings. They were all pleased enough that he'd spoken out like that.

"Thank you!" Rinoa whispered.

"For what?" Squall was puzzled.

"Being so honest. Expressing yourself like that!" She held his hand again and smiled.

He returned the smile "Don't worry about." And took another drink.

By 3 am, the party was wrapping up. Those that had been drinking were either unconscious or much the worse for wear. Those who didn't were helping get the ones who did safely home.

Squall, although not going at it tooth and nail, was more than just a bit merry by now and was very tired. He said the goodbyes to all the crew and left with Rinoa. Even though he'd not wanted a big deal, he was glad his party had been enjoyed. Hell, he'd even had a good time, and he was enjoying this moment right now. The night air was cool, and Rinoa, feeling cold had huddled up against him and he was walking her home with his arm around her.

Her dorm was before his on the route back, so he walked her home.

"Thanks." She smiled at him. "I had a really good time tonight."

"So did I." He smiled back at her.

There was the inevitable moment of awkwardness.

"Umm, do you want to come in?" Rinoa opened her door.

"Umm, s-sure." Squall was starting to feel out of his depth here, but he stepped inside.

They both stood around for a second, not sure how to react. Rinoa removed her shoes, earrings and necklace.

"Do you want something to eat? I'm a little hungry, so…" Rinoa offered.

"Yeah, ok." He agreed. He realised he hadn't eaten in a while and all the alcohol had made him hungry.

"OK, wait there, I'll be right back!" she dashed out and headed through to the kitchen.

Squall looked around for a second and collapsed onto her bed. He was exhausted by now, and he really needed to sit down. Without even realising it, his body slumped back and he lay down on her bed.

"Sis? I'm all alone Sis." The rain poured down on him, mixing in with his tears. "But I'll do my best. I'll be ok without you sis. I can take care of myself. Don't worry about me."

He awoke with a start. He'd had that dream again. All the memories that the drink had washed away came flooding back. He remembered the pain and the angst he'd gone through. Picking himself up off the bed, he opened the door to Rinoa's room and looked towards the kitchen. She was in there, preparing something, with her back to him.

Without saying a word to her, he left and went back to his room. He'd really enjoyed himself tonight. The company of his friends, and especially Rinoa's. He was getting quite close to her now, and that's why it was dangerous. In case he got used to it. He was remembering the pain of losing his sister vividly now, and he knew he never ever wanted to feel like that again. Even if it meant being alone.


	25. Where Loyalties Lie

25. Where Loyalties Lie

Squall felt rotten when he woke up. This was the first time he'd ever gotten really drunk and it had certainly left its scars on him now. Hangovers were a new experience for him and he certainly didn't think he'd missed out on anything. Fortunately, due to his intense training, he always made sure he had some painkillers around. He dissolved a couple of them in water and knocked them back. He looked at his clock. 8 in the morning. That was his normal getting up time, but today he just didn't feel he could do anything, so he went back to sleep.

He needn't have bothered. An hour later the machinery all kicked into action outside. After a further half an hour, he decided he wasn't going to get anymore sleep, so he may as well try getting up. The painkillers were starting to have an effect now and a shower certainly helped things.

He'd heard greasy food was good for hangovers, so he went to the cafeteria and ordered a full fry-up. By now, the hangover was starting to disappear, but he still felt rotten. It was because of Rinoa, he decided. OK, so he didn't want to get too close to her, for fear of losing her. But that was ok, because he preferred being alone, he reminded himself. All the same, he got the feeling she wouldn't be too impressed with him. And he didn't want that he realised. He shook his head. Maybe he'd allowed himself to get too close to her already? Trying to take his mind off things, he looked down and continued with his breakfast.

Rinoa also wasn't feeling very well either. It was because of Squall, she thought. She'd been a bit drunk the night before and it had probably been a mistake inviting him back in. She quite liked him, she realised. When you could get through to him, he could be a really nice guy, and good to talk to. But the problem was getting him to open up. He always seemed scared of going too far or showing himself too much, and she'd probably scared him off, she thought miserably. She decided to get up and get some breakfast anyway. Maybe she'd feel better after having something to eat.

"Oh, hey Rinoa!" Zell saw her coming out of the dorms.

"Hi Zell!" she greeted him.

"So… what happened with you and Squall last night?" He was itching to know.

"Nothing. He walked me back and then went home himself." She shrugged, almost embarrassed to tell the truth.

"Oh, I see…"

"Sorry, Zell, no juicy gossip!" she grinned at him.

"You like him though, don't you?" Zell had worked that one out for himself.

"Yeah, he's…" she sort of blushed now. Well, there was no harm in saying anything. Everyone knew already anyway. "He's really cute!" she admitted. "And, well, there's just something about him. He just looks really cool, the way he dresses. And that ring he wears! I love that ring!"

"Huh? That one with some monster engraved on it?" Zell was puzzled.

"Yeah! It's really cool!" she enthused. "Do you know where he got it?"

Zell shook his head. "No, I'm sorry."

"Oh well…" she was a bit disappointed. "I'd really like one."

"Well… I could probably make you a copy of it." He offered. "If you can get hold of Squall's, I'll try and copy it for you."

"Really? Thanks!" She was pleased, but a little uncertain how she was going to be able to get hold of Squall's ring.

"Where were you off to anyway?"

"Just to the cafeteria for some breakfast" she told him.

"Same here. Let's go." He offered.

They walked into the cafeteria, just as Squall was leaving.

"Hey Squall!" Zell greeted him, then noticed there was definitely an air of awkwardness between Squall and Rinoa.

"Erm, morning Squall." Rinoa avoided his eyes.

"Hi." He looked away as well. "Listen, about last night. I'm sorry, I…"

"Oh, it's ok." She replied.

There was a moment of awkward silence, then Squall was saved by the intercom.

"Squall Leonheart! Please report to the bridge immediately!" Cid's voice rang out.

"Got to go. See you guys later." Squall ran off, grateful for the excuse to leave.

"Morning Commander!" Nida greeted him.

"Don't call me that!" Squall snapped at him.

This was met by a bout of laughter. Squall scanned the bridge and realised Quistis and Xu has also taken up position on the bridge, their stance ruined by them covering their mouths in mirth.

"Sorry, we know you don't like all this, but…" Xu apologised.

"Well, if it helps, sorry to carry things out on our own, but Xu and I assigned duties." Quistis informed him.

"I'll take care of all the supplies needed in the Garden." Xu offered.

"And I'll help take care of the students with Dr. Kadowaki." Quistis finished. "So you can just focus on our destination and battle plans. If that's ok with you."

"Fine." He agreed, glad to have some of the weight lifted from his shoulders

"Oh yes, and Selphie's requested to be able to take a breather. I think she's tired out from the Missile Base mission and organising the party. She could use some rest." Quistis remembered.

"OK, whatever." Squall didn't really care one way or the other here.

"Alright, I have some reports for you already!" Xu got down to business.

"The technicians have finished fixing the Garden, which means, we can leave anytime."

"Good." Squall nodded. "The sooner the better. I've a feeling we'll outstay our welcome if we stick around much longer."

Xu nodded in agreement.

"I'll be piloting the Garden." Nida informed him. "FH technicians taught me everything about piloting this thing. So just let me know when you want to go."

"Any suggestions on our destination?" Quistis asked him.

Squall dropped his head to think. This was where his job was beginning. He knew they should fight the Sorceress as soon as they could, but he didn't know where to find her. He sighed. Why couldn't he have more people who could perhaps… Then he had an idea. They needed more people, so…

"We'll go back to Balamb." He announced. "We'll pick up all the students and SeeDs who evacuated before Garden took off. We'll need as many people as we can get for this mission."

"Good plan!" Quistis nodded in agreement.

"We leave immediately! Announce the departure." Squall told Nida.

"Roger that!" Nida turned towards the intercom. "May I have your attention please? This is the bridge." He announced into the PA. "The Garden will be leaving FH shortly. Please prepare for the departure. I will now hand the mic over to our leader, Squall." He passed the mic over.

"A speech…? Forget it. Cut the mic!" he ordered.

Unseen to him, in the cafeteria, it was now the turn of his comrades, Zell, Rinoa, Selphie and Irvine to fall about with laughter.

The Garden rose up out of the water, pulling away from all the supports that had been put up against it. The boosters and propellers all kicked into life, slowly at first due to the centuries of neglect, but nonetheless bringing the enormous building airborne, and finally the Garden departed from FH

"I take it we're just heading north then?" Nida consulted the rest of them.

Xu studied the map that the technicians had given her. "Roughly, yes." She confirmed. "Well, the map's here if you want to look at it."

"I'd say we'd better head up on a bearing of about 003." He announced, then grinned at seeing their blank faces.

"Well, look who's showing off their new-found knowledge!" Quistis laughed.

"Hey, nothing wrong with it!" Nida went on the defensive.

"Just steer the Garden." Squall shook his head. "How long till we arrive?"

"I'd say about an hour or two." He gave a rough guess.

"So soon? It took us days to reach FH when we left Balamb." Xu was confused.

"That's because we were just drifting last time." Nida informed her. " This time, we'll be flying at full pelt. It can go quite quick, around 700 knots, which is over 150 knots faster than the fastest ship!"

"Please, no technical terms!" Quistis shook her head.

Squall gave up, and went back down to the main area.

After about an hour and a half, Nida summoned him back up to the bridge.

"Squall, we'll be reaching Balamb island in about half an hour, you can just see it on the horizon."

"Good." Squall nodded. "What's the problem?"

"There's something around the town, I can't tell what it is."

Squall squinted, but it was too far to see anything. "Call Quistis and Xu up to the bridge." He ordered.

Presently the elevator rose up, bringing with it Quistis and Xu.

"What's the problem?" Xu got straight down to business.

"There's something at the town." Squall gestured towards the skyline.

"It's the Galbadians!" Quistis recognised it immediately. "They've got their Garden mobile as well!"

"You sure?" Nida was hoping it wasn't the case.

"Positive." Xu agreed. "I've been there enough times to recognise it.

"Dammit! What are they doing there?" Squall cursed.

"Do you think they're waiting for us?" Nida asked. "Do you think it's a trap?"

"I don't know. Probably." Squall tried to think. "We can't risk fighting them there, not at the town."

"Shall we pull away then?" Nida asked him.

"No, we need our men back." Squall was adamant.

"Maybe they've captured them though." Xu had another thought.

"Baiting us." Squall said darkly.

"What's your plan Squall?" Nida inquired.

They were all interrupted by the sound of the elevator rising.

"What's going on?" Zell raced out of it. "That's Galbadia Garden at Balamb, isn't it?"

"Yes." Squall replied simply.

"Man, what are they doing there?" Zell panicked.

"We don't know." Squall confessed. "We think they're probably waiting for us."

"You're not thinking of fighting them at Balamb?" Zell was horrified. "There's people there. My mum lives there!"

"Zell, relax." Squall tried to calm him. "We're not fighting them, not here, don't worry."

"But what are they doing there?" Zell went back to his original point. "I need to know. I need to know if my family are safe."

"Zell's right. We should find out what they're up to." Xu agreed.

Squall nodded. "OK. Nida, is there any way we could get to the island un-noticed?"

Nida raised his eyebrow. "Are you serious? You've seen the size of this thing. We go any further, they'll see us for sure, if they haven't already."

"Arc around the island then." Squall reached a decision. "We'll land behind Fire Cavern. The mountains should shield us from their view. We'll take one of the cars and go in."

"Just one?" Xu inquired.

"Yes, we'll have a small party. A large one will arouse suspicion. Three will do. We'll call for backup if we need it."

"I'm coming!" Zell insisted. "I have to make sure my family's safe."

"Fine." Squall was ok with that. "So, it's me, Zell and…" he tried to think who was a suitable candidate.

"I don't mind going." Xu volunteered.

"No, they know you're Cid's number two." Squall shook his head. "If you're there, they'll know SeeD is here. Same for Quistis." His mind was racing. "Not Selphie because she's off today. Not Irvine because they'll recognise him as a former student…"

DAMN! That only left…

"It's Rinoa then is it?" Quistis spoke his thoughts.

"No. She's not a SeeD." Squall shook his head. It was awkward enough after last night as it was.

"Well then, she won't arouse suspicion." Xu pointed out.

It made sense, Squall realised. "I can't order her, because she's my client." He said. "But I can ask. Nida, summon her to the bridge." He turned to Zell. "Zell, make sure you're ready to go. DO NOT wear your uniform!"

"Right." Zell agreed and disappeared back down the lift to get changed.

Rinoa was enjoying acting as a SeeD by now, and instantly agreed to go to Balamb with them. Dressed in civvies, the three of them waited in the garage with a car, ready to drive out as soon as the Garden touched down.

"We'll leave our weapons in the car." Squall informed them. "They may suspect something otherwise."

The group were completely unprepared for the sight that greeted them as they arrived. Galbadian soldiers were perched on top of the town walls. There were military vehicles guarding all the entrances to the town. It was completely sealed off, they realised.

There were two people milling around outside. Zell recognised one of them as the hotel owner.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"The Galbadians have taken over Balamb!" the owner informed him. "They've sealed the whole area off. They're investigating something."

"Investigating what?" Zell was bewildered.

"I've no idea! Ask one of the guards if you want, but I doubt you'll get a better response."

Squall decided he'd better be the one to ask, in case Zell got too fired up.

"Excuse me, can I just come through?" he feigned complete lack of knowledge of the situation.

The guard shook his head. "This town is under the control of Sorceress Edea." He replied in a gruff voice. "The town is off-limits while we conduct our investigation. It will last for several days. Until then, no-one may enter or leave."

"Investigating what?" Squall took a bit of a meaner attitude now. "What are you doing here?"

"What's your problem?" the guard squared up to Squall. "Are you residents here or something?"

"YEAH, that's right!" Zell crashed the party. "At least residents should be allowed in!"

"It's OFF-LIMITS! You cannot enter or leave. Do you understand??" the guard was becoming increasingly angry at these youths.

"Who do you think you're talking to?" Zell squared up as well.

"Look, the town's off-limits, right?" Rinoa decided to step in, before blood was spilt. "So does that mean we can't deliver a message, either?"

The guard went red "NO! NO-ONE can enter, or…"

"That's too bad." She interrupted him. "We have some info on Ellone. Oh well, never mind. Come on guys…" she winked at them and faked turning to leave.

But the reaction was just as she expected. The colour drained from the guard's face and he looked shell-shocked.

"W-What? Ellone? WAIT!" he rushed to stop them. "Tell me everything you know about her! Do you actually know who she is?"

"Well, kind of…" Zell picked up the game.

"But we need to get inside to confirm something." Squall finished it off.

They watched as the guard mentally ran through all the options in his head. He wasn't supposed to let anyone in, but they were here to try and gather info on Ellone. But what if they were lying? Still, how could they know what they were after… Finally he reached a decision.

"Go and give your information to the commander." He told them. "She's staying at the hotel. Oh, and…" he lowered his voice conspiratorially "… I DIDN'T let you in here!" he turned away from them and gazed solidly at the road out of Balamb.

"Genius!" Zell marvelled once they were safely out of earshot of the guards.

"Well, I didn't want any trouble. You said yourself we shouldn't arouse suspicion." She said, turning towards Squall.

"It was good thinking, yes." Squall agreed. "So now what?"

"Let's go to my house." Zell suggested. "Maybe my ma knows something."

Squall nodded in agreement and they headed for Zell's house.

They found Zell's mother in the backroom, looking after two children.

"Ma! You're safe!" Zell was relieved. His mother's jaw dropped.

"Zell! How on earth did you get into town!?"

Zell tapped the side of his head knowingly. "All in the brains, ma. We just said we had some info on Ellone. Piece o' cake!" he grinned, smugly. Relief flooded over his mother like a tidal wave.

"Thank god…" she breathed. "I was worried you might have beaten up one of the guards." She shook her head. "The soldiers have threatened that the Sorceress will burn the town to the ground, should there be any disturbance, and somehow I don't think they're bluffing."

"They're not!" Squall told her darkly, remembering the scene at FH when Mayor Dobe had tried to reason with them. The two children visibly squirmed in the background.

"Who are they?" Riona whispered to Squall

"I don't know." Squall was equally clueless.

"They live next door." Zell overheard them.

"Their parents were out of town, and now they can't get back in since Galbadia have taken over." Zell's mother offered the final piece.

Squall decided it was time to get down to business.

"What about Sorceress Edea? Is she here?" he was hoping to be able to end this nonsense here. Then he remembered he didn't have his gunblade with him.

Zell's mother paused for a brief moment. "There's a woman staying at the hotel… I don't know what she looks like though."

"What do you think Squall?" Rinoa turned to him.

"Let's find out." He decided.

"Be careful!" Zell's mother warned them.

The group headed straight for the hotel. They weren't surprised to see guards posted outside, but they were surprised to find out there were only two.

"We can take 'em!" Zell whispered to Squall.

"Try diplomatically first!" Squall shook his head.

The guards it seemed were on the ball, however.

"What do you want?" the guards readied their hands on their swords.

"We want to see…" Squall began.

"If you're after the commander, I have strict orders not to let anyone through." The guard shook his head.

"We have some information about Ellone." Squall decided to try the same trick. The guards looked taken aback, but they were a lot sharper than the one at the gate.

"…What? Information about Ellone?" the first guard sounded sceptical. He turned to his partner. "What do you reckon? More rumours?"

"I reckon we'll get a salary cut if we let 'em through without confirmation…" he considered.

Zell started to get impatient. "Yo listen! We have top secret info on Ellone! Bring the commander out here!" Squall nudged him to shut him up.

The two guards narrowed their eyes cynically. "These guys are kinda suspicious, huh?" the first one muttered.

"I agree." The two soldiers turned their backs so the group couldn't hear them talking. Finally, they turned back.

"Give your report to the captain!" they ordered. "The captain is on patrol!"

"Where?" Squall wanted to know.

"Somewhere around the town!" the guard told him, and refused to let anything else slip.

"What do you reckon?" Zell turned to Squall again.

"I think Edea's the commander, and… Seifer's the captain." Rinoa offered uncomfortably, not entirely happy about the prospect of another run-in with the latter.

"Makes sense." Zell agreed.

"I don't know…" Squall considered it. "I can't see the Sorceress staying in the hotel, but I can't think who else it could be. As for Seifer…"

It was more than likely Seifer was here, in which case, the fight would be inevitable. He cursed himself for not having his gunblade with him, but knew there was no way he could leave Balamb and be able to get back in.

"Let's take a look around." He decided. "There may also be some Garden students around to help us."

"Maybe some other soldiers know where Seifer is?" Rinoa offered.

"Let's try it. Just ask where the captain is, because we have info on Ellone!" Zell suggested.

"OK, but don't overdo it." Squall warned.

"There's three of them over there. Let's go ask." Zell head off.

"Zell, wait. Let us do the talking." Squall didn't want Zell to put his foot in it.

Zell briefly looked offended, but then agreed.

"S'cuse me. Do you know where I can find the captain?" Rinoa approached the nearest one.

"The captain? It's the captain's nap time right now." The soldier answered without thinking. Panicking, he picked himself up, "I mean, uh, the captain's out on patrol. Why, what business do you have with the captain?"

"We have some info on Ellone for him." Rinoa smiled innocently. The effect was instantaneous.

"What? Ellone? What is it?" the guards were eager.

"We were told we had to report to the captain only." Squall smiled, giving nothing away. "So, where does the captain take his nap?" he knew he had them where he wanted them now. But now the guards seemed to be confused.

"You know, I've been wondering that myself…" the first guard scratched his head.

"Well, with his bulky build, you won't find him on top of a building, or in the street…" the second one considered.

"Just look around, maybe someone else knows." The third offered, as they head back out on their patrol.

Zell raised his eyebrow. "Nap time?"

Squall shook his head. "Bulky build? Laziness? It isn't Seifer whoever it is."

"Who then?" Zell was curious.

Squall shrugged. "I don't know. It's not like I know every high up person in the Galbadian military."

For a while, they just drifted round Balamb looking for some clues, until they came to the harbour. But it seemed the Captain, whoever he was, concealed his absence of duty well as all the soldiers were equally clueless as to his whereabouts, until by chance, the group stumbled across one who held some useful information

"Oh, the captain? Yeah, he was just fishing here." The guard replied. "He caught a few and got really excited. Said he was gonna eat 'em right away and went up to one of the houses to borrow an oven or something."

"Dammit! Does that mean we have to search every house?" Zell was frustrated.

"Looks like it. Come on." Squall sighed.

However, as they got back up towards the houses, Zell noticed smoke coming out of his house.

"Oh shit! Ma!" he cried and raced up towards it.

He was relieved to find everyone in the house was safe. But the kitchen was filled with a sickly-smelling smoke.

"Ma? What's gone on in here?" he asked her.

She seemed just as baffled as him though. "I don't know. Some man just came in and asked if he could use the kitchen. I think he cooked fish, but they must have been bad or something, because it smells terrible!"

"Where did he go afterwards?" Squall pressed.

"He headed up that way." She pointed up the road towards the train station. The group sighed and head out once more.

"This is just getting ridiculous! Zell grumbled. "We're just running around all over the place!"

All the same, they went inside the train station and stopped at what they saw. There were three soldiers all lying down on the ground, clutching their stomachs in agony, to the equal bewilderment of the train guard.

"Don't look at me!" he told the group, seeing their faces. "An important looking Galbadian man came and offered the soldiers some fish."

"Where is he now?" Zell was hoping this would be the last of it.

"He just went inside the train carriage there." The guard pointed.

"Got 'im!" Zell jumped up with delight as he kicked down the door.

"Zell! Calm down!" Squall shouted, but the racket had been enough.

"Shit, what's going on?" a voice came from the other end of the carriage as a large, dark-skinned man leapt out the train and ran out of the station.

"It's Raijin! Come on!" Squall recognised him instantly and the group ran after him until he got to the hotel. Raijin ran inside, and then came flying out again to the astonishment of the others.

"F-Fujin… Control your temper, ya know?" he was pleading. "I was patrolling, just like ya told me!"

Zell had finally had enough. "RAIJIN!" he yelled.

Raijin turned round and almost jumped out of his skin when he saw them.

"YEOW! W-What are you guys doing here."

"We're here to liberate Balamb! Ya know?" he added sarcastically.

Raijin looked uneasy. "Seifer told us to give you a whopping if we saw you, ya know?"

"Then bring it on!" Zell leapt into stance. "You'll pay for this Raijin!"

The two guards rushed out to attack the group, but Zell was too quick for them. Grabbing the first guard by the wrist, he lashed his body through and broke the man's arm at the elbow. He took the sword from the man's now limp grip and tossed it to Squall.

"Here, Squall. Use this."

Squall smiled, he was on familiar terms now. It wasn't his own gunblade, but it would do. He rammed the point home by ramming the blade into the stomach of the other guard who instantly dropped down.

Meanwhile, Raijin had drawn his own weapon, a huge metallic cudgel, with thick ends.

"Raijin, we don't want to have to hurt you, but if this is how you want it…" Squall tried to get him to see sense.

Raijin however, wasn't hearing any of it and took a massive swing at Squall, who managed to dive out of the way in time.

He raised his sword to counter, but it was knocked out of his hand by a flying pinwheel. He looked round. Fujin had joined in the fight.

"RAGE!" she snarled.

"So YOU'RE the commander huh?" Zell snarled back. "Pack your bags and get the hell outta Balamb!"

"No chance!" Raijin felt like he was getting warmed up. "We got work to do, ya know?"

"ELLONE, WHERE?" Fujin demanded.

"NOT TELLING!" Zell barked back, Fujin-style, to her obvious annoyance.

"MOCKING?" she yelled.

"Mock this!" Raijin swung at Zell this time, obviously forgetting his martial arts skills. Zell swung round the side, grabbed the cudgel at both ends and flipped it round with both hands, forcing Raijin to let go with one hand. Also it left him, very unbalanced and bent over. Zell kicked up and brought his foot directly into Raijin's nose. He finished him off by grabbing his hair and pulling him backwards down onto the floor and punched him hard in the kidneys, causing him to curl up in agony.

Meanwhile, Fujin had drawn another pinwheel to throw at Squall, who ducked this time, and retrieved his blade. He knew the closer he got to her, the more accurate her shot would be, and the harder it would be for him to dodge. Fujin knew this as well; she was a lot smarter than Raijin, and she held up another pinwheel to throw at him. But SHE hadn't banked on Rinoa's aim with a pinwheel.

Rinoa picked up one of the discs that had landed on the path and hurled it back at Fujin, where it embedded in her leg. Fujin was much too proud to scream, but her eyes visibly narrowed. She knew what would be coming next, and indeed leapt to the side as Squall came piling in. She wasn't quite quick enough though, and Squall left a huge gash down the side of her arm. From here, he turned round and kicked her in the side of the head, sending her reeling.

Fujin was also smart enough to know when to give up.

"DEFEATED…" she announced, and stood up, holding her hands up where they could see them, so they knew she wasn't going to pull anything. Raijin, got up, still clutching his side and stood by her, leaving his cudgel where it was.

The group also put down their weapons.

"Are you taking orders from the Sorceress?" Squall demanded.

"NEGATIVE!" Fujin denied.

"The Sorceress has nothin' to do with it, ya know? We're actin on our own!" Raijin told him.

"Own plan?" Zell narrowed his eyes sceptically.

"We're on Seifer's side, ya know?" Raijin put it simply.

Squall shook his head. "Fine, do what you want, but this is just getting ridiculous. He's screwed things up for himself, you really want him to bring you down with him?"

"We can't back out, ya know?" Raijin shook his head. "If we leave him, what's he got left then? Nothing, ya know? We're his only friends!"

Zell sighed. This had gone far enough. "If you guys stand behind him that much," he paused, then said with a fair amount of exasperation, "Tell frickin' Seifer to stop this nonsense!"

The duo looked at each other. It made sense to them.

"AFFIRMATIVE!" Fujin agreed.

"We're behind him all the way. We'll do what's best for him." Raijin nodded.

"Understood, but…" Squall sighed, "I take it you're finished with Garden now?"

Avoiding his eyes, they both nodded.

"Like I say, we're with Seifer all the way, ya know?"

"That's your choice, but our mission is to kill the Sorceress. From now on, we're not holding back." Squall made sure they understood the situation. He turned to his comrades "Come on, let's go."

"You're just going to let them go?" Rinoa asked him.

"Don't wanna… talk anymore. Kinda painful… ya know…" Raijin wheezed.

"WIMP!" Fujin kicked him on the shin, sharply, giving him another pain to worry about. But before the group could do anything else, the pair of them ran off back to Galbadia Garden.

"…I feel sad." Rinoa said as she watched them go.

"Friend or foe… It all comes down to circumstance." Squall turned away "That's how we were raised, It's… nothing special."

However, he knew it was more than that as he said it. They'd been part of Garden for a long time, and now, they were just leaving like that. He wondered if the day would ever come when he would wash his hands of SeeD, Garden, and his entire life as he knew it.

He sighed. "Come on, let's go back to Garden."


	26. Irvine's Revelations

26. Irvine's Revelations

After Fujin and Raijin left Balamb, Galbadia swiftly evacuated. By the time Balamb Garden was airborne again and they'd flown round to the other side of the island, Galbadia Garden was already well on it's way out. Squall decided not to follow them. It was more important, he insisted, to get themselves properly prepared. They picked up any students who were still in Balamb, thought most, they discovered, had gone home, and were scattered all around the world. Squall realised it would be futile to fly around the world to try and find them. In a time of crisis, spending days, weeks maybe searching for students they may not even find would be wasteful; dangerous, indeed, whilst the Sorceress was wreaking havoc. He was, however, left with the question of where to go next, for it would be equally futile to fly all around the world looking for Galbadia Garden.

It was Selphie who put forwards the next destination in the end. It was a couple of days after they'd liberated Balamb, and they were still on the island making preparations, collecting people, weapons and so forth. He'd taken a breather and was resting in his room, when she knocked at his door.

"What is it?" he enquired bluntly.

Selphie looked down at the floor and scratched the top of her head, avoiding his gaze. She'd never really spoken to him one-on-one before, not without Zell or Irvine or somebody like that around. "Umm, have you decided on a destination?"

"Still thinking about it." He told her.

"Um, can we maybe go to Trabia Garden?" she asked, managing to look up.

"Trabia? Wasn't that destroyed by missiles?" he was confused, but the look on Selphie's face made him click instantly.

_Of course! She wants to make sure everyone's ok._

"Sorry." He apologised. "I forgot. I'll keep it in mind."

"We could maybe get the Trabia SeeDs to join us. If… if it wasn't destroyed, we could activate their Garden, and… and then we'd have two mobile Garden's to fight the Sorceress with, so…" her words came pouring out now as she tried to think of more excuses for them to go.

Squall held up his hand to stop her. "It's ok. We'll go."

"Really? Thanks Squall!" she hugged him, and then feeling a little self-conscious turned away.

Trabia Garden was isolated up in the mountainous snowfields of the northern-most continent, and as such, the going was not particularly easy, as the Garden didn't fly particularly high, and in any case, they would have to find somewhere to land. Selphie had invited herself up to the cockpit and was incessantly annoying Nida by being a back-seat driver.

"If you carry on up between this mountain range, then turn to your right at the end, it's secluded at the base of the mountains!" she was practically jumping into the driving seat herself.

"Selphie, I know! I've got a map right here, and in any case, I can follow the roads beneath us!" Nida just wanted her to shut up.

"Oh, OK!" Selphie was cheerful as always. "Well anyway, if you make a little turn…"

"Selphie, please! I know where I'm going."

"Selphie, it's ok. Nida's been trained, he knows where he's going!" Quistis came to his rescue.

"She's only trying to help." Of course, Irvine had followed Selphie and was taking her side.

"See! See! Irvine agrees with me!" Selphie jumped up and down delightedly, to the pleasure of Irvine, for apparently winning her over, and the annoyance of everyone else. "Look, we'll just turn the corner and…"

She broke off her speech as they turned round the corner and saw Trabia. It looked like there was no chance of this Garden ever taking off. There were huge holes in the roof, debris lying everywhere; the walls burnt and scarred.

"A… direct hit?" Selphie dropped to her knees as she stated the obvious in despair.

"Looks pretty bad…" Squall agreed.

"We have to go in! See if we can help!" Selphie begged, and Squall was inclined to agree with her.

"Just a small party at first. I'll go, and Selphie? I assume you want to come." He turned to her.

"I have to. I have to see if people are ok." She was trying to stop from crying, Squall could see.

"I'll come too!" Irvine smoothly sidled up to them. "I should offer my support."

_No chance!_

It was common knowledge that Irvine was more than a tad interested in Selphie and Squall knew he only wanted to come along to further his efforts at getting in her pants. He shook his head.

"Sorry Irvine. Not on this one. Selphie's coming because she's a former student there, the rest of the party are representatives of Garden. I'm going as I'm the commander…"

"So who else then?" Irvine narrowed his eyes.

"Xu as mine and Cid's and second-in-command." Squall decided.

"Why not Cid himself?" Irvine wanted to know.

"I don't know where he's got to. He's taken himself away. Think about it. We're on a mission to kill his wife! How do you think he feels, knowing what he… what WE have to do? That someone he loves so much is causing so many people misery. I think he'd rather not be a part of this. But anyway, Quistis will be the other representative as my other second-in-command." Squall made his decision, which Irvine accepted, though he couldn't help wish Squall could be just a touch less business-like at times.

"Set the Garden down as soon as you can find somewhere suitable." Squall ordered Nida.

As they approached the Garden, four Trabia SeeDs came out to meet them. Since the attack, it seemed they were being much more on their guard.

"State your name and your purpose!" The group leader demanded.

"I am Squall Leonheart. Commander of SeeD!" he saluted.

"Commander of SeeD? Since when?" The man eyed him suspiciously.

"Since my appointment by Headmaster Cid Kramer." Squall adopted his most formal of tones. "We come in peace. We are from Balamb Garden." At this, he gestured towards their own Garden, hovering above the plains. The Trabian SeeDs eyes almost bulged out of his head.

"That… That's Balamb Garden, but… it's flying!" he stammered.

"There is a lot to report. I need to speak with your Garden Master." Squall told him.

"Mr Lazarus? Well… I still…"

"If you do not recognise me, perhaps you recognise my seconds. Quistis Trepe, and Xu, second to Cid himself."

The two women saluted.

"Well, Xu, yes I recognise you, but…"

"It's ok." Selphie approached the men and flashed her Trabia Student ID card. "We're friends. I'm a student from here myself. We had missiles launched at us as well, but we avoided them by getting our Garden mobile. We came to see, what… what had become of Trabia…" her voice cracked, but the men lowered their weapons.

"As you can see… We have not been so fortunate." He said sadly. "We got notice of the incoming missiles, and most of the students managed to get shelter or evacuate outside of the blast radius. Only 25 were killed and 153 injured. The problem is, all the available room is being used to tend to the injured, and many are without shelter. Well, see for yourselves…" he allowed them inside.

The scope of the damage was greater than they could have imagined. The paving was all ripped up and torn. All the trees and plants were burned away and few of the buildings were intact.

"I'll take the four of you to see Mr Lazarus." Their escort told them.

"Umm, Squall…" Selphie looked awkward, but Squall knew what she needed.

"It's ok Selphie. Go check up on your friends. We'll meet up later." Squall gave her permission to leave.

"Thank you Squall!" she gratefully left and ran off in search of her friends.

The three of them were lead into the basement of one of the ruined buildings, which had been set up as the new office. There was a lot of paperwork lying around; lying in whatever containers and cabinets had been salvaged.

"Um, Mr Lazarus, sir?" the man ventured.

"Yes Edwards, what is it?"

"There's some people from Balamb to see you sir…" Edwards retreated out the room.

Mr Lazarus looked thin and worn out. He was quite clearly in over his head trying to cope with the destruction of Trabia. His face was pale and heavy bags hung under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept for days.

"Mr Lazarus? My name is Squall Leonheart. Commander of SeeD." Squall introduced himself.

"Commander of SeeD?" Lazarus looked confused.

"We have a lot to report sir." Xu stepped forwards. Lazarus leaned back.

"Xu? Um, well, hello. What brings you here? And, um…" he turned to Quistis. "I'm terribly sorry, I don't remember your name…"

"Quistis. Quistis Trepe. I've only been here once before."

"Yes, I recognise you as an instructor from Balamb, but, who's this commander of SeeD fellow?" Lazarus still looked bewildered.

"I was appointed by Headmaster Cid Kramer to command SeeD and lead it's battles." Squall started to explain the situation. "SeeD was trained to fight the Sorceress and now, our time has come to fulfil our job. I'm sure you have heard about Sorceress Edea overtaking Galbadia?" Lazarus just nodded dumbly as Squall continued. "She knows our purpose and thus aimed to destroy Garden." He paused and watched as Lazarus sunk back, taking it in and realising what had happened. "It was her who launched missiles at Trabia."

At this, Lazarus rose up, finally consumed with anger.

"She WHAT? She destroyed this place, killing and injuring students? But why does she hate SeeD so much? And why was it our purpose to destroy Sorceresses. And… And why didn't Balamb or Galbadia Gardens get destroyed…"

"Mr Lazarus, sir. There are many questions, some of which I don't know the answers to myself." He decided not to mention for one, that she was Cid's wife and had helped establish Garden in the first place; that would just confuse matters even more. "But the one's I can: Balamb survived because we discovered it was built from re-modelling a mobile Centra shelter. We re-activated it, and now our Garden is mobile. The missiles touched down in the hole where it used to be. Galbadia too, is mobile. But it was spared, as the Sorceress has taken it over, to use it as her mobile base." He paused again. "She is now on the hunt for someone named Ellone and is burning and destroying everything in her path in order to find her. Cid has now declared an official war for SeeD against her, and I have been appointed to command the battles. I don't know if you have received the order yourself…"

Lazarus threw his hands up in despair. "Doubtless you tried to send it to me! But most of the electrics are down! The communication cables are completely destroyed. It's a nightmare. We don't have enough space for people. That would be bad enough anywhere, but in the middle of the snowy mountains! When it starts to get colder, people will be freezing to death! And there's nothing we can do either, it's just…" he sank his head down in despair again.

"Mr Lazarus, I believe we can help each other here. As SeeDs, our job is now to fight Sorceress Edea, and for that, we need people, as many as we can get. We have plenty of spare dorms and food. Give me all your SeeDs who are able to fight. They can join us on Balamb Garden and help us in our fight. It will also free up space for those who need it. What do you say?"

Lazarus nodded slowly. It made sense, he realised. They really were so overcrowded since the disaster. He didn't know much about Sorceresses or Ellone, but he'd take whatever aid could be given right now.

"Take whoever you need." He agreed.

Squall nodded. "Thank you. You've been of great help. We'll leave as soon as we're ready."

There was a knock at the door and Edwards reappeared.

"Mr Leonheart, sir? Miss Tilmitt and her friends are waiting for you in the basketball court."

_Selphie. And… her friends?_

Squall groaned as he arrived. Irvine hadn't been able to stay away after all. And Zell and Rinoa had also followed him.

"We're leaving as soon as we've rounded up the SeeDs here." He informed them coldly. "Get back to Garden."

"Irvine told us to come along." Zell said confused. "He said there was something important we had to talk about."

"Which is?" Xu was curious.

"Ah, I'm sorry, Xu, Rinoa, it doesn't really concern you two." Irvine scratched his head apologetically.

"Irvine, what are you going on about?" Squall arched his eyebrow.

"Look, there's something we have to talk about before we go and attack the Sorceress. It's important."

"Irvine, I'm sure it can wait till afterwards…"

"NO!" Irvine's voice was solid and determined, all his usual jollity gone, so much so that it took them all by surprise. "This cannot wait until afterwards. So, Xu, Rinoa, I'm sorry, if you could…"

"Go and help Lazarus get the SeeDs together." Squall nodded at them, a little subdued, curious as to what Irvine thought was so desperate.

Xu nodded and left. Rinoa, however stayed.

"I'm staying!" she announced stubbornly. "I thought we were all friends! I don't know anyone else!"

Irvine paused, and then relented. "OK, you can stay then."

"So talk!" Squall looked at him and Irvine relaxed, back into his old, usual self.

"It's just all this war against the Sorceress." He began. "You all know of the last Sorceress war, right? There was a lot of destruction, a lot of death and bloodshed. I don't know how many of you remember your childhood. But I remember mine." His eyes seemed to glaze, as he went into a bout of nostalgia. He picked up a nearby basketball and bounced it a couple of times. "When I was a little kid… About 4 or so… I was in an orphanage." He broke off and threw the ball through the hoop, then sighed awkwardly. "Y'know, it was in the war. There were loads of kids… left without parents."

Squall didn't know what to say. He knew, of course, about losing his whole family. But he didn't know Irvine had gone through the same kind of ordeal.

"Anyway, that's where I was." Irvine continued his story. "Me, and a whole load of others. But anyway, out of all the kids there, one was very special to me. I really liked this girl, and it made me happy just talking to her." At this, he smiled directly at Selphie, who looked shell-shocked.

"Wait a minute…" she tried to get her head round it. "Was that orphanage… a stone house?"

Irvine's grin broadened. "You guessed it!"

"An old house, made of stone? …By the ocean?" To everyone except Irinve's surprise, it was Quistis who spoke this time. Irvine's grin broadened still.

"You guessed it! I knew right away when we first met!"

"Why didn't you tell us!?" the girls chorused.

"Cause you two seemed to have forgotten!" Irvine was still grinning. "And it sucked that I was the only one who remembered. Spunky little Sefie and bossy little Qusity!" he laughed thinking of their old childhood names.

"That is just sooo weird… IRVY!" Selphie laughed.

Zell, who had appeared to be thinking, finally spoke. "Guys…" he started out uneasily, "Do you remember setting off fireworks?"

"We got into so much trouble!" Irvine grinned.

"I remember that! Down by the lighthouse!" Quistis exclaimed. "Well, we were down there, and then you came to tell us off Zell!" it was her turn to laugh.

"I'm tell-ing!!! I'm gonna tell on yoo!!!" Selphie mimicked.

"Hey! Quit it!" Zell wasn't so amused; then a thought struck him. "If I remember this, does that mean I was there too? And… then, what about my parents in Balamb?"

"The Dincht's adopted you." Irvine informed him simply.

"Yeah… that's it. I remember now. I remember we were there. Me, and you, and Quistis and Selphie and…" he stopped in shock as he remembered someone else, "and… Seifer!"

"Oh my goodness! You're right!" Quistis clasped a hand to her mouth.

"Seifer… My archenemy…" Zell spoke slowly. How had he forgotten this?

But Squall had remained quiet as well. He was remembering things of his own. After his parents died, and he had been sent to an orphanage, along with his sister. He tried to remember the kids there. Well, Seifer had always been Seifer. Zell was always crying and screaming. Quistis, he thought she'd been a little difficult to deal with. And Selphie had always been full of energy. As for Irvine… No, he couldn't remember Irvine.

"Yes, Seifer was there too." Irvine nodded. "Except for Rinoa, we were all there."

"Wait a minute!" Selphie realised. "That means…"

_ Well, no point hiding it…_

"Yes, I was there too." He admitted. "Me and my sister, till she left. And then I was always waiting for her to come back."

He thought of himself back then, and his dream came back to him. About him promising her he'd be ok without her. Except he hadn't turned out ok at all, he realised.

"I remember your sister!" Zell exclaimed. "And because you called her 'sis', we all did! She became a big sister to all of us. And now… I don't even remember her name."

"Ellone." Irvine spoke quietly.

"Yeah…" Squall agreed. "Irvine, Quistis, Zell, Selphie, Seifer, Ellone and myself. I don't know what this means, but we were all together."

He was hiding it, but he felt like he'd been hit by a ton of bricks. Ellone. Ellone was his sister! She hadn't died after all! She was alive, and she'd been living in Garden. His head was reeling.

_"Who are you? Where do I know you from?"_

_ She looked hurt. "Come on Squall. Try to remember. Please."_

_ "Remember?" As far as he was concerned, the first time he'd ever seen her was in the infirmary._

_ "It'd be heartbreaking for me to think I was forgotten." She turned away and looked sad. "It'd be nice to talk about old times again."_

The conversation from the library came back to him. All these years he'd isolated himself from trying to cope with the loss of her, and she'd never left him! She'd been there, with him, in Garden all this time! And he couldn't even remember her! Other things were falling into place as well.

_"Wait! You know that girl Ellone OUTSIDE the dream world?" Squall was stunned._

_ "Well of all the… Jeez, Squall what kind of question is THAT?" Irvine was shocked._

The car outside the prison. No wonder Irinve had been so surprised.

_"Come on you guys. It's just a bit of fun. Think back to your childhood days. It was all just having a laugh, right?" His face fell as they just stared at him. "Come on guys…"_

_ "Irvine? What are you on about?" Squall looked at him._

_ "Heh, well you wouldn't remember would ya?" he looked at Squall playfully._

_ "As a kid?"_

_ Yeah, he remembered. Too well. He didn't want to think about that._

Irvine looked at each of them in turn as if looking for something. After he'd scrutinised them all, he gave up whatever he was after.

It made sense now, Irvine's behaviour. He'd remembered, while the rest of them had forgotten.

"Ellone, She's the one that takes us back to Laguna's period." Selphie was saying. Squall tuned back in, and offered his piece.

"She said she wanted to change the past. I don't know why…"

"There can only be one reason." Quistis figured.

"She's not very happy with the present." Selphie finished it off for her.

Zell fired himself up. "If that's the case, I'm definitely up for helping her! She's part of our orphanage gang!"

"You didn't even remember who she was!" Selphie pointed an accusing finger at him.

"Hey, Selphie… that goes for you too!" Irvine reminded her.

"It's kinda scary we've forgotten these things." Quistis mused.

"It's really strange." Squall admitted. "I don't think I was adopted, because of the way I am."

"Same with Seifer." Irvine agreed. "You two were the first to go. You were both in Garden by the age of 5 or so."

"Seifer's never mentioned anything about growing up in an orphanage. I've known him all my life, we all know this, but nothing about it ever crosses my mind when I see him either. Don't you find that odd?"

"That IS strange…!" Selphie agreed. "Well, in my case, I had loads and loads of fun after going to Trabia. I think that's why I forgot about my childhood. But I don't know what's up with you guys!"

"Stop trying to excuse yourself!" Zell muttered.

"I remember… Things didn't work out too well at my new home. I was in Garden by the age of 10." Quistis pieced together bits from her memory. "That was when I first noticed Seifer and Squall. They were always fighting."

"And you always used to break us up." Squall remembered.

"Yes! That's right!" Quistis nodded. "Seifer was a kid who always needed attention."

"Seifer still IS a kid who always needs to be the centre of attention." Zell put in.

"But Squall has always ignored him…" Quistis carried on, ignoring Zell. "But even so, they would always end up fighting." Squall put his hand up to the scar on his face at this. "Squall could easily have walked away, but always took up the challenge." Quistis continued. "He should've just ignored him, but Squall, almost in tears, would say 'I gotta do my best by myself. Or else I won't be able to see Sis.' I guess I was trying to take Sis, I mean Ellone's place, but I couldn't. That's probably it!" she jumped suddenly, as if having a huge revelation. "Even after becoming an instructor, I still couldn't stop thinking about Squall. I thought it was… love. I had to hide my feelings, because I was an instructor."

_Well you didn't do a good job of it._ Squall thought back to the day of his SeeD exam, when she'd dragged him to the secret area.

"But, I've come to realise it wasn't. It was my childhood feelings as a big sister that still lingered. Oh well… Actually, I'd entirely given up when Rinoa came into the picture." She finished her piece, noticing Squall and Rinoa both looking awkward. But then she had another thought. "Hey! I bet it's the same with Seifer. He's forgotten his childhood too. But when he sees Squall, his inner feelings start to boil, and…"

"Is that why he always picks fights?" Zell asked.

Squall couldn't take this anymore.

"Why did we all forget? We grew up together, we've all been at Garden together, except Selphie and Irvine, and yet Irvine remembers more than us."

"Squall, I tried to tell you before. It's the price we pay for using the GF."

_"Do you have a GF that will allow junction to your Hit accuracy?" Squall asked him._

_ "Don't use GF." Irvine replied simply._

_ "Why not?" Squall was puzzled. "Why not use something that can make you stronger, faster and more accurate?"_

_ "I don't like it." Irvine shuddered. "My aim's perfect anyway. Plus, I don't like the idea of allowing weird beasts into my head. I've heard they steal your memories."_

_ "That's nonsense." Quistis assured him. "People just don't like the idea of them, because of their power. It's fear and the reactions that come with it."_

_ "There's been research onto that, and it's been confirmed as false." Zell agreed. "We all use GF's and we've never forgotten anything important."_

"Oh really?" Irvine shot a funny glance at them.

"Before the assassination mission." Squall remembered.

"Right!" Agreed Irvine. "Like you said, out of all five of us, six if you count Seifer, I'm the only one who doesn't use GF, and the only one who can remember. You said you'd never forgotten anything important. Squall, you forgot your own sister!"

"And then spent the rest of my life tearing myself up about it!" Squall spat venom. "I was torn up because I thought she'd died. She never died, I just forgot her!" he silently uttered every curse he knew to himself.

"Zell, you forgot that your adopted parents WEREN'T your real parents." Irvine carried on. "Quistis, you can't remember events from less than a decade ago. And Selphie… you forgot your best friend." And at this, his face sunk.

"So is that why you make such a big fuss of her?" Zell, ever the master of tact, put in.

"Selphie's always been very important to me." He replied simply and was rewarded by Selphie taking his hand and squeezing it gently.

"So, you're saying that if we use GF, we won't be able to remember a lot of things?" Zell's mind was working now.

"It must be their fault." Quistis acknowledged. "What should we do?"

"Nothing!" Squall replied.

"What do you mean nothing!?" Zell was shocked. "We're giving up our memories in exchange for power!"

"We're indebted to that power!" Squall argued. "We're SeeDs. Our job is to fight and kill the Sorceress. In order to combat her power, we need power of our own! And if there's a price we have to pay for it, I'll gladly pay it!"

"Hey! I know! Let's keep a diary!" Selphie decided. "Our memories don't disappear, we just need something to remind us. Well, this way, we'll always have something to remind us."

"Are you sure that's what you want?" Zell realised something. "I don't care if I forget Seifer picking on me. I want the power to defend the people who I care about and who care about me. Like my parents in Balamb."

"Your adopted parents." Selphie reminded him.

"No." he replied, determined. "My PARENTS. My family." And they all understood what he meant. "And remember what she did in Balamb? Yeah, I'll use that power to KILL the Sorceress. She'll never hurt anyone I care about again!"

Irvine did a little cough to get their attention. "Say, do you guys all remember Matron?"

"Yeah, she was so kind to us!" Selphie smiled.

"She was always wearing black." Squall remembered.

"Oh yes, she was very kind… Long black hair… yes, I really admired her." Quistis too was smiling at the thought. Squall had thought of something else.

"You know, she looks a bit like…" but he shook it off. It couldn't be true. They were completely different people.

Zell knew what he was thinking "Yeah, I think she does look a bit like…"

"Actually, I just pictured her face… and…" Selphie spoke.

"NO!" Irvine's voice was heavy as lead. "There's no 'looks like' about it."

"No, come on Irvine." Selphie tried to laugh it off.

"It can't be…" Zell agreed.

"They're completely different people!" Squall summed it up.

"Look at me guys." Irvine commanded, and unwillingly, they all brought their faces up to look at him. He looked them each in the eye, and spoke slowly, so there could be no misunderstanding. "Matron's name is Edea Kramer. Matron IS Sorceress Edea!"

Selphie was in tears now. "It can't be… Matron… Sorceress Edea…"

"But why is Matron…" Quistis was starting to cry as well.

"Why? You're wondering why Matron would take over a country, or fire missiles, or whatnot." Irvine summed it up. "At this point, we probably wouldn't comprehend it even if we talked about it."

"You're right." Squall agreed. "But some things make sense. I know now, why you couldn't pull the trigger on her at the assassination attempt."

_"I never thought I'd have to do something like this." He muttered unhappily._

_ "Whilst training to be a sniper?"_

_ "No, it's not that. It's Edea. We're going to kill Edea!"_

_ "The Sorceress, yes." Squall didn't see much difference._

_ "Are you that cold Squall? Does this mean nothing to you?" Irvine's eyes implored him._

_ "What does she matter to me?" Squall asked, irritably. "I don't know her. She's just another enemy to me."_

Words from that day came flooding back to him.

_"I cannot kill the Sorceress. Whether she deserves it or not, I don't know now. I didn't believe she'd do such a thing."_

"And you still made me do it." Irvine reminded him.

"If I'd known…" Squall tried to apologise

Irvine shook his head. "…Hear me out. I'm sure you know now, why I insisted we talked about this before going to fight the Sorceress." They all nodded. "I would've reminded you all after we escaped from the D-District prison, had Squall not remembered about the missile attack. But anyway…

"SeeD and Garden were all Matron's idea, right? I'm not a SeeD, but I share the same feeling with all of you. As Squall pointed out, our job is to fight the Sorceress, right?"

"She created an organisation to fight herself?" Selphie was confused.

"Don't even start…" Squall advised her. "I've been through all this with Cid already. But… That's what Seifer wanted to know… What SeeD was and why they opposed the Sorceress. But, Edea should've known that, she STARTED it. Why should she have been demanding to know what it was?"

"Matron, IS Sorceress Edea." Irvine reminded him.

"Oh, I know. There's no denying that." Squall agreed, relucantly.

"Look, this is what I wanted to say." Irvine continued. "I thought it would be best that everyone knew, if we're going to fight the Sorceress, we will have to face Matron. You've all heard this before, how life has infinite possibilities. I don't believe that one bit. There weren't many paths for me to choose. Sometimes there would only be one. We were all together, but due to various circumstances, we were all separated, and now here we are again. Just like old times, though a lot's changed. We're not kids anymore, we're strong enough to take care of ourselves. Make our own decisions. And here, we have a big one. I know our opponent is Matron, whom we all love very much, but she's changed. She's tried to wipe out her children at Garden. She's had Squall tortured, tried to kill Ellone. She's not the kind Matron we remember. So, do we do it? Do we fight Matron? I say we do it."

"…Yeah. Let's do it. We can't run from her for the rest of our lives." Zell made a decision.

"It's just such a bummer… I can't believe we have to fight Matron." Selphie still wanted another way out.

"I know…" Quistis agreed. "But Zell's right. We can't run from her forever."

"I'm in." Squall was the last to speak. "Even Cid, Edea's partner says this must be done. I'm sure he doesn't like it either, but… He said I had to do this task. When it was over, I would understand why. Furthermore, Ellone was the most important thing to me. Now I realise she never died, or left me. I can't make up for forgetting her, but I can protect her. And if Matron is the one threatening her, so be it! So… Rinoa, that just leaves you. We're going to fight. I think it's the only way we can move on with our lives. If that makes any sense at all, come with us. I'm sure that's what everyone wants."

The cheers and nodding of heads from the others told her he was right.

"OK, I'm coming!" she agreed.

"Hey guys, before we do that…" Zell had an idea. "You wanna go check out Edea's orphanage?"

"Yeah! I wonder what it's like now?" Selphie was as enthusiastic as ever.

"You never know, we might find a clue." Irvine agreed.

"Clue? You mean as to why she turned out like this?" Quistis put in.

"Despite what truth we find, it's not going to change the present. It's a waste of time and fruitless when we have much more important matters at hand." Squall shook his head. The others all looked disappointed, until he lifted his head again and smiled, a cheeky expression, one they'd not seen before and which was wholly unlike Squall, appeared on his face. "But I don't care! I wanna see too!" And they all whooped and cheered. "I don't know what we'll find, but… Let's head for Edea's House!"


	27. Clash of the Titans

27. Clash Of The Titans

Visiting Edea's house had seemed like a good idea at the time. But because of their memory loss, none of them could remember where exactly the orphanage had been. Even Irvine struggled with this one. He could remember more than the others, but he had only been a small child when he was there, and of course, at the time, geography had been of little importance to him. But from the scraps of information they could remember, they gathered it was somewhere on the Centra continent, far to the South. Without letting anything slip, Squall merely told Nida to head for Centra and left it at that. The group had all agreed not to tell anyone else about the orphanage, or their reasons for visiting, it would have been frowned upon as wasting time. Squall and Quistis, in particular would not have been looked on favourably for it. The trouble was, then, trying to think up their excuse when they arrived.

Squall was therefore very surprised when, a week later, Nida called him up to the bridge.

"You're a genius Squall! How did you know?"

"Know what?" Squall was puzzled.

"That they'd be here, of course. Why else would we have come all the way out to a deserted continent like Centra?"

Squall's mind clicked into action. "Hand me the binoculars!" he ordered. It was pure coincidence, but there was no mistaking the shape of Galbadia Garden on the horizon. "They must know we're here." He conceded. "If not we'll make the first move. Either way, the fight is inevitable."

Nida nodded grimly. "This is the final showdown then? You sure we're ready?"

"As ready as we can be." Squall reasoned. "If we put it off, they've got just as much time to carry on training as we have. Hand me the mic."

"You're making the announcement?"

Squall did not reply. He was trying to think about how to do this. They had to start preparing as quickly as possible to give them the best chance of winning. But he had to try and keep everyone calm, and decide on the plans and a whole hoard of other things. Not for the first time, Squall wished that someone else had been given the commander's position. Finally, he turned on the tannoy.

"May I have your attention please, this is your commander, Squall Leonheart speaking. The time has arrived for us to fight the battle we were trained for; we are going to battle against Galbadia Garden and the Sorceress!" He paused, to give his announcement time to sink in. "Can Quistis and Xu come to the bridge immediately. Everyone else, gather up your weapons, prepare yourselves and stand by for further announcements." He put the mic down.

"What do you want me to do? With the Garden, I mean?" Nida asked him.

"Hold her steady for now." Squall told him. "Let's prepare ourselves first."

It seemed like an age Squall was waiting for his colleagues to arrive, yet it couldn't have been more than a couple of minutes before Xu and Quistis arrived. And with them came Zell, Selphie, Irvine and Rinoa.

"Is this the big one then, huh?" Zell grinned.

"What are you guys doing here?" Squall asked.

"We're part of this team too!" Irvine reminded him.

"This isn't a 'team' thing right now!" Squall told him. "I need only the head people here right now. Everyone else needs to be getting prepared. Irvine, Rinoa, you guys aren't even SeeDs! I can't…"

"We **are** heads!" Selphie stuck in indignantly. "This is OUR Matron we're fighting against. Not theirs down there. This is for US to do. And even though Rinoa wasn't in the orphanage with us, she's still part of our team."

"Guys. You don't seem to understand we're about to fight possibly the biggest battle Garden has ever seen. This could be the last fight we…"

"Of course we realise that." Rinoa interrupted quietly. "We know this with all our hearts that this could be the last thing we ever do. And that's why we're here. Because we can't let you do this by yourself. Because we have to fight alongside you. Because… Because there are too many reasons…" Tears started to well up inside her eyes, and in that moment, Squall finally understood. However much he'd tried to fight it, he now knew how much they meant to him and how he didn't want to lose them.

"It's ok." He said. "Rinoa. Zell, Quistis, Irvine, Selphie. This is it then, our last stand together. Thank you all for being here with me!" He smiled, and they all smiled back, also understanding.

"Let's DO it!" Zell punched the air.

"Erm, guys, whatever it is you're planning on doing, you'd better decide soon!" Nida's voice sounded urgent as he handed Squall the binoculars.

There, through the viewfinder, was Galbadia, slowly, but surely cruising towards them.

"They're coming, aren't they?" Xu read his thoughts.

Squall nodded grimly. "They must be ready for the attack." His mind switched back to battle plans. "Fine, if they're on the offensive, we get on the defensive. Let them hurl themselves at a wall of swords!"

"I like it!" Selphie voiced her approval.

"OK, battle plans then! What do we do?" Quistis got to the point.

Squall thought fast. "The front entrance and the quad are the most open areas. That's where they'll strike hardest, so that's where we'll concentrate our defences. Now think, where else could they enter from?"

"The parking lot. We used to get whole convoys through those doors." Selphie offered.

"Close them then." Squall ordered. "They're solid steel, but we'll have a couple of troops in there in case they're breached. The 1st and 2nd Class Sabres should do, and if needs be, they can use the vehicles to storm the place later. Nida tell them to assemble."

Nida activated the tannoy as the others continued to speak.

"There's the secret area at the back of the training centre." Quistis remembered. "That's outside."

Squall shrugged. "Close and lock the doors to the centre." He ordered. "The fences are all electric, and if Galbadia wants to be stupid enough to tackle the monsters in there, that's their problem."

"The classrooms on the 2nd floor." Xu thought. "It's not a huge opening, but there's a lot of windows that could be smashed through."

"They may well try that then, if we're concentrating our forces downstairs, yes." Squall conceded. "Same with the dorms. Have anyone with long-range weapons on the deck. With luck they may be able to take them down as soon as they get inside. Have anyone with MG rank 3 or above in the dorms. Tell them all to warm up, and make sure all the windows are shut; we don't want to give them an easy entrance."

Nida was repeating orders as fast as Squall was giving them.

"I think that's it." Zell traced the building in his head.

"Right then, everyone else gets in the main areas." Squall decided. "We'll split 50/50. Anyone whose Student ID number is even can go to the quad, if it's odd, the front gate. Xu, I want you to lead that one, the rest of us will go to the quad."

"What about the juniors?" Selphie thought. "We don't want them fighting."

"Alright, anyone with a student ID ending in 5 or 0 can look after them. In the infirmary, there are no obvious entrances. They can take care of supplies as well. Tell Dr Kadowaki to be on hand there as well." He paused for a breather, then turned to his comrades. "Let's go!"

Squall was pleased to see all the troops assembled and ready for battle in the quad.

_If this is our last stand, we'll take them out with us as well_! He thought grimly. It had all been carried out rather efficiently he noticed. The huge, orange monstrosity that was Galbadia Garden was closing in on them now.

"C'mon, c'mon, let's get this thing moving!" Zell was getting impatient.

"You'll get your chance Zell." Squall told him.

"Yeah, I know, our final stand." He acknowledged, and then seemed to remember something. "Oh yeah, can I have a sec?" he pulled him to one side. "It's about your ring. I know it might not be the time, but…" he scratched his head. "Give me your ring will ya? I need to borrow it for a while. I promise I won't lose it or anything."

"Why do you need it?" Squall was flabbergasted. This was completely out the blue.

"Uh, I can't tell you that." Zell looked sheepish. "C'mon, you can trust me."

_What the hell? I like this ring! Well, if he just wants to borrow it, I suppose… I got more important things to worry about anyway._ In silence, he handed it over.

"YEAH! THANKS MAN!" Zell jumped about like he'd been given a trophy. "Rinoa's gonna be so pleased!"

"Rinoa?" Squall was puzzled.

Zell realised he'd said too much. "If we get out of this, things will all become clear." He promised.

"We WILL get out of this." Squall promised back. He'd finally understood how much he did not want to lose him, and NOTHING was going to take them away from him he decided grimly as he released the safety catch on his gunblade.

Within minutes, the waiting was over, and Galbadia Garden was upon them. It turned its quad towards that of Balamb's, and launched its first wave of assault. From giant ramps, riders on motorcycles came flying through the air towards them. Irvine, Rinoa and anyone else with long-range capabilities drew their weapons and started picking them off in midair. All around them others followed. Half of the bikers were dead within seconds and those that landed soon fell prey to the ground fighters.

"Is this the best you've got?" Squall crowed as he decapitated a rider and watched the bike fly along the floor, taking out two more in it's path. "First wave down."

"Second wave on their way!" Irvine began picking them off.

"**Squall, this is Nida!**" the tannoy burst into life. "**Xu needs you at the front gate!**"

"Take over Zell!" Squall told him. "I don't think you've got much to worry about here."

The second wave was about as successful as the first. Surveying the wreckage about them, Zell remembered something else. "Rinoa, take this." He handed her Squall's ring. "I'll make you one just like it, I promise. Until then, just hold onto it."

"Thanks Zell!" Rinoa smiled as she put it on. "Damn, it looks cool, but it's too big!"

"Don't worry, I'll make one your size!" Zell assured her. Rinoa nodded and pocketed the item.

"Looks like the 3rd wave are on their way guys." Quistis told them.

"No worries!" Zell smiled. However, at that moment, Galbadia surged forwards and rammed straight into Balamb, sending everyone flying.

"AAAAHHHHH!" Rinoa screamed, as the edge where she had been standing broke away from the impact. Several SeeDs fell to their doom, but Rinoa managed to grab a ledge and hoist herself up.

Zell cursed himself for his complacency. "Sneaky bastards! Putting us off guard like that!" He ran over to the edge and reached down to where Rinoa was perched. "Damn I can't reach her!"

"We have to pull her up somehow!" Selphie said, a tad unnecessarily.

Zell nodded. "Rinoa! HOLD ON! WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK!" he called to her.

At that moment the third wave landed in numbers doubling both that of the first two back together. The real battle had begun.

Squall realised this as he arrived at the front gate. The bikers were flying through the main entrance in droves, shooting in midair at the SeeDs gathered to fight them, then drawing their swords the instant they landed. Even with Balamb's own gunners and mages taking them out in midair, a substantial amount were landing to make the fight hard, especially due to the added speed the bikes lent them.

From back in the foyer, Xu was directing the battle.

"Form ranks!" She ordered. "Close range fighters to the front! Archers, Snipers and any mages with long range spells to the back for covering fire!"

"What's our status?" Squall inquired.

"The first two waves we took out easily, but I think that was just the warm up." She replied grimly.

"I think they were designed to scatter our defences before the main wave attacked." Squall agreed. "Why did you call for me?"

"Because I think we may need to rethink our strategy." She told him. "From the looks of things, the Galbadians have spent a lot more time planning this than we have."

Squall had an idea. "Are they still launching?"

"I can find out." Xu turned to a young SeeD at her side, who instantly nodded and ran off. "What's the plan?"

"Back off." Squall replied simply. "When they launch, we pull away, let the fighters fall to their doom. We'll easily outnumber those left in the Garden, we can finish them off and prepare from there."

"Brilliant!" Xu grinned. "Take them out in batches!"

"When they stop sending troops in, then we go in on the offensive and take out Edea." Squall decided.

"The troops at the top say there's another wave about to launch!" The young man returned.

"Perfect! Give the order to Nida!" Squall instructed.

"Roger that!" Xu turned away to her radio link.

The plan worked exactly as scripted. From the bridge of Balamb Garden, Nida was able to see the bikers all launch off their ramps. Instantly he pulled back at high speed, sending the bikers plummeting to the ground. From there, the Galbadians were easy pickings for the SeeDs Squall was pleased to observe. This feeling didn't last long however, as Zell and Selphie came tearing into the foyer.

"Squall! Rinoa's in trouble!" Zell was breathless.

"On the last hit, she fell off the side of the Quad! She's hanging by a rock ledge!" Selphie was jumping up and down in a mixture of fear and excitement.

_DAMN!_

"Commander! They're coming in again!" A member of SeeD called out.

"What? They'll fall to the ground!" Squall was confused.

"Not troops! The entire Garden!" Another yelled frantically.

Right on cue, there was another almighty crash as the two Gardens collided with even more impact than before, sending Balamb troops flying!

"Tell Nida to pull back!" Squall ordered. "They'll be sending in the bikers any minute now. Everyone else prepare! I'm sure a few will get through."

"I'm going to gather more forces here." Xu informed Squall as scores upon scores of bikers were sighted emerging from Galbadia.

"Do it!" Squall nodded grimly.

Zell meanwhile had been watching the scene with his mouth ajar. "Squall! Didn't you hear me?"

"YEAH!" Squall exploded, of course he had. "But she's not the only one in danger!"

"Didn't think you were so heartless Squall." Selphie looked at him, hurt. "Rinoa is going to die! Don't you realise that?"

"Of course I realise!" Squall buried his face in his hands. Couldn't they see he had the entire Garden to worry about? Of course he knew what they meant. He wanted to save Rinoa as much as they did. More so even. "Zell, Selphie you go save Rinoa. Do whatever it takes!" he ordered them as the bikers started flying in and he returned to the fray.

"Leave it to me!" Zell called after him and ran off. Selphie paused for a fraction of a second and took off after Zell.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"The dorms!" he replied. "There'll be something to haul her up with. If nothing else, we'll make a rope of bed sheets!"

"Like in escape sequences in the films!" Selphie clapped her hands together in delight.

"Yeah, however you want to see it Selphie." Zell shook his head. He'd never understand how Selphie could be so happy-go-lucky in the midst of a crisis.

Squall smiled as he saw reinforcements arriving to fight off the bikers. They'd outnumbered them again which meant they could easily fight off this batch. Nida was piloting the Garden well, he realised. They'd put enough distance in between the two Gardens to prevent the Galbadians sending in more reinforcements for the time being. He knew it was only a matter of time before they attacked again though, and was debating bringing in more troops to prepare for the next wave.

He headed over to the back of the foyer where Xu was still monitoring the situation.

"How's the Quad holding out?" he asked.

"Hold on a second. I sent Quistis to direct that one. I'll radio her." Xu brought her walkie talkie up to her mouth again. "Quistis? Xu. What's the situation?"

"From what I can gather, the same as in the main hall." Quistis replied, "We're holding them off. But it's only a matter of time until they attack again."

"Wait, so have they been hitting the Quad and the entrance simultaneously?" Squall interjected.

"According to Nida, yes." Quistis frowned. "But that's just the strategy you'd expect. I mean…"

"How are they doing it?" Squall was perplexed. "The Quad and the Entrance hall are about 90 degrees apart!"

For a moment the group ran over the building schematics and Galbadia's previous attacking pattern.

"New strategy Squall?" Xu turned to him.

Squall nodded. "I think so. Xu, which direction did the bikers come in from?"

"Looking down the hall, to our right." She replied.

"And the Quad, Quistis?"

"Looking outside, to our left."

"And the direction of impact was straight between the two!" Squall finished it off and grabbed the walkie-talkie of Xu. "Nida, are you getting all this?"

"Roger that and one step ahead!" came the voice from the bridge. "I'll keep the Garden turned so that neither of those areas is open."

"No, then they'll just start ramming us into stalemate." Squall told him. "Remember, we're not just trying to fend them off, we've got to beat them outright! Keep the Quad semi-open to them. They'll try and align themselves in between the two again. Keep holding out until they get bored and attack anyway. They'll only have the Quad open so we concentrate our forces there."

"We're playing a waiting game effectively." Xu realised.

"Yes, we'll have to be patient and let them make the first move." Squall obeyed the first rule of combat. "Send more troops to the Quad."

Seifer, meanwhile was watching Balamb's movements from his own bridge.

"C'mon! Get the Garden lined up!" he yelled at the incompetent pilot.

"Sir, I'm trying! I think they've cottoned on to our game!" The pilot replied. "We need a change of strategy!"

Seifer's face went red with anger. "I'M the superior officer, NOT you!" he roared. "Now get in between the Quad and the Hall! Don't give them time to recuperate!"

"Y-yes sir!" The pilot stammered.

Seifer smiled. This was his command after all. How he'd waited for a day like this. The pilot had been right in a way though. Squall could read his mind even from here; they knew each other so well. Maybe a slight tweaking of plans was in order…

"Hey, where's everyone running to?" Selphie looked perplexed as she saw SeeDs and students emptying the dorms.

"Where are YOU running to?" A senior SeeD turned in response. "We're needed as reinforcements in the Quad! Move!" he ordered.

"Different mission!" Zell stood his ground defiantly. "Special orders directly from Commander Leonheart!" He and Selphie had already agreed to hide the details about Rinoa, knowing other SeeDs would find it foolhardy making such a mission for one girl.

The two stared at each other defiantly for several seconds before the officer broke off.

"I hope for your sake you're telling the truth!" he called back to them as he ran off.

"If I wasn't in such a hurry, I'd be so angry." Zell shook his head as the two of them headed up into the dorms.

Meanwhile, Nida was having problems of his own trying to manoeuvre the Garden out the way of Galbadia. The pilot was seemingly hell bent on trying to get Galbadia into the correct position to infiltrate both the Quad and entrance hall simultaneously and had employed several tricks to keep him off guard. After several minutes of cat and mouse, Nida believed he'd finally won as the Galbadians started to back off. Breathing a sigh of relief he reached for the tannoy to update Squall on the situation of the Galbadians. That moment was all Galbadia needed to turn round and ram Balamb harder than they'd experienced before. Nida was sent tumbling towards the back of the bridge. Cursing himself for being so complacent, he picked himself up off the floor, observing to his horror, the Galbadians had correctly aligned themselves and braced himself as the Garden surged forwards ramming Balamb even harder.

"Dammit! They're coming in again." Squall cursed as he picked himself up off the floor.

"Everyone, on your feet!" Xu started announcing battle plans instantly. "Prepare for defence, they're coming in again."

Squall braced himself waiting for the bikers to come surging through again. But to everyone's surprise, nothing came in through the cavernous opening. For several seconds, there was total silence across the Garden, until the sound of shattering glass and a piercing scream came from the 2nd floor balcony.

"It's paratroopers!" Quistis' voice came through on Xu's link. "They're attacking the upper levels and coming in through the windows!"

"But that's where we pulled our reinforcements from!" Xu realised with horror.

"Shit! Get everyone upstairs as fast as you can!" Squall ordered as he ran for the lift.

"It's as you predicted sir! They're pulling troops out the entrances to fend off upstairs." The young soldier reported.

"Excellent!" Seifer smiled. "Now you can send in the next wave of bikers."

"Do you think she's even still managed to stay on that ledge?" Zell cursed as he knotted the final sheet together.

"She'll be fine! She's got good balance." Selphie was ever the optimist.

"But you felt the force of those last two collisions! We were sent flying!" Zell reminded her.

"Away from the Quad though!" Selphie pointed out.

That was true enough, Zell realised. In any case, he couldn't just abandon her. He had to try. He leaned down to pick up his rope and froze as he heard the glass shatter behind him. The next thing he knew, two Galbadian troopers burst in through the open window.

"Paras!" Zell cursed and instantly bought himself up into fighting stance. The first one lunged at Zell with his sword, but Zell swiftly moved to the outside, grabbed the man's wrist and turned it over, producing a snap of the wrist followed by a scream from the man. He then turned to the man attacking Selphie, grabbed his neck from behind and pulled him to the ground.

"Zell look out!" Selphie cried as the first soldier's hand began to glow. It was too late. A burst of fire shot out, narrowly missing Zell, but catching the rope and the fallen soldier.

"No!" Zell was distraught. How would he save Rinoa now? "You BASTARD!" He leapt on top of the mage and brought his fist down into the larynx, crushing it, causing the man to die instantly.

"Come on, we've got to get out of here." He grabbed Selphie and dragged her off.

"But Rinoa…!" Selphie started.

"Listen to the glass breaking! They're infiltrating the dorms. If we stay here any longer, we won't be able to save her. We have to regroup!" Zell was urgent.

Reluctantly, Selphie acknowledged this and fled away with Zell to where the main body was waiting.

Squall meanwhile was having problems of his own. The airborne troops weren't just paratroopers, many of them were using jet packs and as such being incredibly difficult to anticipate. On the deck, Irvine and other snipers were doing their best to pick them out in midair, but the soldiers were quick and far too many of them were getting through. The bikers coming up behind the ground troops hadn't helped matters either, as the SeeDs now had to be split between all the floors of Garden. Squall had ordered Nida to put as much distance between the Gardens as possible, but with the arrival of the airborne soldiers, it wasn't really making any difference.

"Maybe I should have focused on attacking right at the start instead of concentrating on our defence." He sighed.

"I don't think that would have done much good." Xu consoled him. "I think Seifer's been preparing this attack for ages now. For the time we've had to prepare, you've done well!"

"Not well enough though." Squall remarked grimly. "If they send another wave through, I don't think we can hold them off."

"Well, looks like it's now or never." Xu seemed to be thinking out loud.

"What are you talking about?" Squall was confused.

"Well, you and Seifer have always had this rivalry going on between you." She remarked. "Maybe it's time for you to face him and put an end to this."

"You mean go on the offensive?" Squall translated. "I think you might be right. Call Nida, tell him to summon Quistis and Irvine."

"Roger that." Xu turned to her radio. "How are we going to board though?"

"That's what I want to talk to Irvine about." Squall told her. "I'm planning on crashing into them. Their pilot's been ramming us all along, I'm sure Nida can manage it too."

"We have no choice, let's do it." Xu agreed.

At that moment Zell and Selphie arrived, both looking out of breath.

"Where's Rinoa?" Squall instinctively asked.

"There was noting we could do." Zell apologised. "Galbadians burned our rope. On top of that, there's no way to get to the Quad. It's crawling. I'm really sorry man. I don't think she's going to make it." He hung his head in despair. For once Selphie looked downcast as well.

_…Rinoa._

"Whoa, whoa, you're not giving up that easily are you?" Irvine made his appearance.

"I don't want to, but…" Squall began, but Irvine waved him into silence.

"Listen, we're invading Galbadia, right?" he asked. Squall nodded. "Right, do me a favour then. YOU go help Rinoa! Don't give up until you're CERTAIN there's nothing you can do."

"But the attack…" Squall tried again, but Irvine interrupted

"I'll lead the attack. I know the place better than you do." Squall said nothing, conceding this, at least, was true. "I don't care what you have to do or how you feel. Just do it. For Rinoa."

"Listen to Irvine, Squall. She's one of us." Quistis pleaded

"All right." Squall agreed. "Irvine, the attack rests in your hands. Xu, tell Nida to back away. We finish all the Galbadians left in Garden then attack. Tell everyone to brace themselves for the crash. We'll play them back at their own game!"

"No Squall, you tell them." Xu had another idea. "Go to the bridge; you're everyone's leader. Talk to your men. Encourage them. You probably don't realise but everyone in this Garden looks up to you. They like you."

"I'm not much good at speeches, but I'll try." Squall nodded as he walked away to the bridge."

"Everyone, this is Squall!" The tannoy rang out over the battlefield that the Garden had become. "How's everyone doing? You're probably too tired to stand up after all the fighting, but I don't want you to give up, we still have a chance to win, and for this I need your help. We're going to go on the offensive and attack them before they come in again. To do this, we're going to head straight into their Garden. I want you to prepare for a major collision, brace yourselves and take care of the Junior classmen. Irvine, Xu, Quistis, Zell and Selphie will lead the attack; give them all the support you can. SeeD was trained to fight the Sorceress, and Garden was built to train SeeDs" he told them. "At least so Headmaster Cid tells me. So this fight is kind of like our destiny. So for this final battle, give it all you can and give SeeD a proud name!" he finished.

"Reports coming in say the Galbadians are nearly wiped out in Garden." Nida informed him.

"Right, let's do it then. Hit them hard!" Squall commanded.

"Yes SIR!" Nida grinned as he surged the Garden forwards.

Seifer had been relishing in the victory that appeared to be on hand to him. He had a few more waves to send at his old home, and it didn't look like Squall was able to fend them off. Balamb seemed to be constantly trying to run away. He was therefore rather shocked as a soldier approached him with a new piece of news.

"Sir! They're incoming!"

"What? Who are?" Seifer was slightly confused.

"Balamb sir! They're heading straight for us!"

By the time Seifer had raced up to the bridge, it was too late. Balamb had struck them full force and SeeDs were spilling out straight onto the exterior areas of the Garden, where Seifer, in his complacency had failed to station any defences, believing their attacking was going to be enough.

"What are you doing standing around?" he yelled as he picked himself up off the floor. "Get the defences together! Now!"

Squall had hit upon and idea to help Rinoa. If he could get hold of one of the parachutes that a paratrooper had dropped, he could parachute down onto the Quad and save Rinoa. He was now scouring the 2nd floor classrooms for dead paras to steal a chute off. But he was out of luck. All the parachutes were ripped and torn beyond repair. He wasn't entirely out of luck however, as one of the jet packed troopers came crashing through the window. The pack was quite clearly in perfect working order. He put his hand to his gunblade.

"Hand over your jet pack if you want to live." He demanded.

The soldier merely laughed. "And why should I do that kid?"

Squall decided to discontinue the argument and instead lunged at the man. Hastily the soldier powered up his jet pack and tried to take off again. Squall leapt up and grabbed hold of the man's leg and pulled himself up to grab hold of a handle dangling from the pack. With the two of them in midair, a couple of hundred feet above ground level, Squall realised there was no way now the man would let go. He lashed out at him to try and knock him out, but the soldier turned inside to block the attack. All of a sudden, Squall wished for Zell's martial arts prowess; he'd have known how to beat this man. As it happened, the two quickly became engaged in a stalemate situation with neither one with the upper hand. They kept trading ineffectual blows at each other, both trying to get inside the others guard and knock him off. For a couple of minutes they traded off like this, until Squall finally had a new idea. He dummied a punch. Instinctively, the soldier drew himself up into his guard, which gave Squall enough time to draw his gunblade. Not bothering with the gun aspect of it, he simply brought the sword round to slice the man's hanging arm off. Both the man and his severed limb fell towards the earth. Smiling, Squall took up position in the safety harness and descended towards the Quad.

Much to his relief, Rinoa was still there, vainly hanging on by her left arm. The din was too loud for him to call to her, so here merely descended towards her and held out his hand for her to take. Rinoa couldn't see who was steering, but she gratefully accepted the hand, relieved to finally be free of the ledge. Squall took off again, this time towards Galbadia, flying high over the fray to an entrance where he could see Irvine disappearing into. He scouted for a safe looking area nearby where he landed, just in the nick of time, he thought, as he felt as if his arm were about to drop off. It was then that Rinoa came face to face with her rescuer.

"Squall!" she exclaimed in delight and flung her arms around him. "Thank you so much!" she released him and looked back at him, waiting for him to respond.

Squall merely scratched his head awkwardly. "It was, ah… don't worry about it. It was my job. We're still under contract. And it was everybody else's idea too. And I just happened to find you. So, erm, like I say don't worry about it." His voice trailed off. He was never much good in these type of situations.

Rinoa laughed. "It's ok Squall, I know what you mean. Anyway, I couldn't afford to fall off that cliff and die. I still have something very important that belongs to you. I can't die until I give it back to you, right?"

This time Squall merely looked confused, until Rinoa reached into her pocket and drew out his ring. "Zell gave it to me, see? I've been holding onto it."

_I'm gonna kill him…_

"That's my favourite ring!" he exclaimed. "You'd better give it back."

"I'm sure it is. It's a cool-looking ring." She agreed "What's this monster on it anyway?"

"It's not a monster. It's a lion." He informed her. "Supposedly a legendary GF. Lions are known for their great strength and pride."

"Hmm… great strength, great pride. Sounds kind of like you Mr. Leonheart!" she smiled at him in a different fashion this time.

"I wish…" he scratched his head awkwardly again.

"So this LION of yours. Does it have a name?"

"Of course." Squall nodded. "Like I say, it's allegedly the famous GF, Greiver."

"Oh, so that's what you call it. You know Zell said he'll make me one just like it. Who knows maybe I can become a lion too. That'd be crazy, huh? I mean everyone might, y'know, get the wrong idea about us!" She exclaimed happily and kind of hopefully.

_If it's so crazy, why do you sound so delighted?_ He sighed. Everyone was trying to get them together. It was so obvious they weren't even trying to hide it. That included him, he realised. He knew he liked her, and yet he was still afraid to let himself get into that situation. Even though he'd discovered his sister was alive and well, she was still being hunted by the Sorceress and was in great danger. He hadn't lost her yet, but he may well do so soon. Especially if they failed to beat the Sorceress. What if the same happened to Rinoa. "You sound like you want everyone to get the wrong idea about us."

"No, it's not that!" she protested, blatantly falsely. "Well, I mean…" she broke off unsure what to say.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I don't know. I mean… I was so glad it was you that saved me." She told him. "I'd have been grateful had anyone saved me, but it was made even better by the fact that it was you."

"I did it because I wanted to." He admitted simply. "Because I didn't want to lose you."

Rinoa wrapped her arms round him again. This time Squall didn't just stand there, but returned the hug. He was only minutes away, he realised, from his potential death. In moments like these, all inhibitions seem to wash away. He really wanted to let her know how he felt.

The two of them broke off the hug and Squall found himself looking into her eyes.

"Rinoa… I…" he started, not knowing what to say. For once he wished he'd had more experience in these situations to explain himself.

Rinoa however, knew exactly what he meant, even if he couldn't say it. And she knew she felt the same too. She leaned forwards and lightly kissed him on the lips, lingering there for a couple of seconds and then pulled back, feeling slightly awkward, hoping Squall wouldn't push her away. Squall merely stood there for a moment slightly taken aback both by what Rinoa had done, and in experiencing his first kiss. There was no one he'd rather have shared it with he realised and leaned back in to return the kiss. Rinoa once more wrapped her arms around him and for a few moments the two of them kissed passionately. Squall wished that they could have gone on like that, but he knew he had a job to do, and that none of them would be safe until they achieved it.

He broke away. "Rinoa. We really should…"

Once again, she understood. "Don't worry. We'll both get out of this alive. Trust me."

He nodded. "Everyone's waiting. I saw Irvine heading through that entrance there."

"Then let's go." She said, and the two of them, releasing each other, turned and headed off towards the inside of the Garden, where there friends and their destiny awaited them.


	28. A Day for Joy or Sorrow?

28. A Day for Joy or Sorrow?

Sure enough, as they entered, Irvine, Quistis, Selphie, Zell and Xu were waiting for them. They smiled as they saw their friends, glad to see that they were both safe. But something was wrong; except for Quistis, who's smile also seemed a bit wistful, they were smiling a lot more than would have been expected.

Irvine, in particular had a grin broader than his face. "Congratulations man! I didn't know you had it in you!"

"You were watching!" Rinoa realised.

Squall meanwhile had gone crimson. It was awkward enough for him what he'd done already, never mind that they'd all seen.

"Are you alright?" Quistis asked, drawing the subject towards more important matters.

"I'm fine." Rinoa stated simply.

"Where's the Sorceress?" Squall got down to business.

"From what I imagine, in Martine's old office." Irvine told him. "It's the centre of power for the Garden."

"Well then let's go!" Squall decided.

"Erm, there's a slight problem." Zell informed him.

"Which is?" Squall wanted to know.

"It seems as soon as we invaded, they locked the doors down to prevent us getting in." Xu informed him. "Without keycards, we'll have a lot of trouble getting to her."

Squall turned towards Irvine.

"Don't look at me man!" he pre-empted Squall's inevitable question. "My key will get us into all the low level areas. Sports centre, canteen, lecture halls and stuff, but there's no way we'll get to the higher levels."

"Well we'll just have to find a card that will." Squall shrugged and started heading off down the corridor, then turned to face them. "Forget about the past! She's out enemy now! Don't think twice for a second. There's no way we can fight like that. I, for one can't."

"Erm, what exactly are you talking about Squall?" Xu was confused.

"I'll explain it all afterwards, I promise." Quistis told her friend. Xu, still puzzled nodded.

"I don't think there's anything else I need to say." Squall finished.

"We're still listening. We want to know how you feel." Rinoa told him.

"I'll tell you later. When we all get out of this." He promised. "Let's go."

"But what's the plan?" Zell, ever the enthusiast asked.

"Irvine, this is where your insider knowledge comes in. How far exactly can your keycard get us?"

"Like I said, only standard access areas." Irvine mentally ran through the schematics of the Garden. "We can get into the corridor next to Martine's old office, but that's just the standard port of call for students. There's a lift at the end of that corridor that leads to the higher levels. Much like at Balamb. Think about it, how many people have access to the bridge other than you?"

It was true, Squall realised. In Balamb, due to his promotion to commander, he had free run of Garden.

"Well, if Squall's commander of SeeD, shouldn't his keycard allow him access anywhere in here?" Selphie chimed in.

"I doubt it." Squall responded. "Galbadia owns this Garden now, not SeeD. I'm sure they'll have reworked the security systems accordingly."

"Well, it's worth a shot right? Even if you can't, we may find some other way to break in!"

With no other plan of attack, Squall conceded it was worth at least trying. It proved to be a dumbfounded mission however. Irvine had managed to get them to Martine's old office, but the room was deserted, and devoid of any information. It was clear that Martine had salvaged what he could and Edea had removed anything else that was of worth.

"So, the only way to her is up through that lift?" Squall came back to the original point.

"There's at least three floors up there." Irvine sighed. "All high level too. Above ground and with many vantage points. That's where all the attacks have been launched from. I'm sure it's military only now."

"What, so you mean students are cut out?" Xu seemed to have another idea.

"Well, yes! We always have been. Do you allow any old student up to Cid's room?" Irvine didn't see the point.

"No, we wouldn't do." Xu acknowledged. "But the point is, everyone we've faced has been Galbadian Military, not Garden students. So where are they?"

"Seifer kicked them out." Zell snorted.

"No, that wouldn't work, the students would resist!" Xu protested. "Think about it, how easily did the Garden Faculty kick the students out when Norg rebelled?"

"They rose up and overthrew him!" Rinoa cottoned on. "The Galbadian SeeDs will be around here somewhere."

"The dorms if anywhere!" Irvine finally understood. "It's the one place the students know the best; it's where they keep all their supplies, AND…" he winked, "The infirmary in this Garden is located within the dorm blocks!"

"So that's where they'll be hiding!" Squall nodded. "Somewhere they can defend themselves!"

"And someone there should have access to the higher tier!" Irvine finished off. "Come on, the block's just down the stairs a bit!" And with that, he led the way.

Not even Irvine was prepared for the sight that greeted them as they walked into the entrance hall where the corridor for the dorms was to be found, however.

In the centre stand of the hall, was a huge beast. It was quadruped, much like a dog, except that it possessed three heads. And it stood nearly half the height taller than Squall.

"It's Cerberus!" Zell hissed. "The legendary three-headed guardian of Hell!"

"So what's it doing here?" Selphie gazed up at the beast.

"It's a GF." Xu informed her. "Before we could junction them, the GFs were revered to as Gods, or other creatures of power. Ifrit, Shiva, Quezacotl; in ancient days they were believed to be the Gods of Fire, Ice and Lightning."

"So what's it doing here?" Squall repeated her question.

"Like I said, it's a GF…" Xu began.

"I know that." Squall sighed. "But Cerberus is the guardian of Hell, and this isn't Hell. So who summoned it here?"

"The students! It must be!" Irvine realised. "Come on!"

"Wait! Irvine! That might not be it!" Squall tried to stop him.

"WHO GOES THERE?" Cerberus roared down at them.

"I'm Irvine, Irvine Kinneas! A Student at this Garden!" Irvine began.

"A STUDENT HERE?" the three heads homed in on Irvine. "YOU ARE ON THE OTHER SIDE!"

"It's alright! He's telling the truth!" another voice rang out.

The party looked as three figures, all in Garden uniform emerged from behind the beast.

"Irvine Kinneas! Good to see you again!" the ring leader saluted him.

"Good to be back!" Irvine returned the salute. "What's been going on here?"

"I'm sure you can imagine." The other man sighed. "The Sorceress took over Garden. Martine's missing, I'm sure she killed him."

"She didn't." Squall informed him. "I saw him on the Isle of Fisherman's Horizon, along with the other two members of my team." Here he gestured towards Rinoa and Zell who nodded in confirmation.

"Well, that's some good news." The student smiled. "As for the rest of us, well they tried to kick us out. They activated some old machine that made us fly and started throwing those that resisted off the edge. We tried to fight them back, but there were too many, and the Sorceress' power is unreal. They drove us back to the dorms, where we summoned Cerberus here to guard us from them." He sighed. "Though I'm not sure whether he's keeping them out or us in to tell you the truth. But anyway, who are you guys?"

"I'm Squall Leonheart, Commander of SeeD." Squall introduced himself.

"Commander?" The students looked at him funny.

"I'll explain later." Irvine told them.

"We're all from Balamb Garden. Our mission now is to defeat the Sorceress." Squall continued.

"You're not thinking of taking her on!" The student looked at him aghast. "You can't! Have you seen her…"

"We've seen her, and seen what she's capable of." Squall cut him off. "But it's now or never, and the sooner this ends, the better. We're prepared don't worry. But we need access to the office on the top floor."

"I'll find someone with a keycard." One of the students ran back into the dorms.

"You're serious about this, aren't you?" The first student sighed. "Well, if that's the way it's got to be, that's the way it's got to be. I'll get the others mustered up, I guess."

"No, stay here. We'll do this ourselves." Squall told him.

"What? Just the seven of you?"

"Yes." Squall replied simply. He wasn't going to go into all their personal feelings. But then he had another idea. "Say, if you want to help us, you could lend us this GF."

"I AM NO-ONE'S TO LEND." Cerberus' giant head looked down on them. "I LEND MY POWERS TO THOSE WORTHY. IF YOU WISH FOR MY ASSISTANCE, SHOW ME YOUR WORTH."

"Very well." Squall reached for his gunblade. "Everyone, grab your weapons."

"YOU ARE A SeeD, YOU KNOW THE STANDARD COMBAT RULES FOR GF." Cerberus began again. "NO MORE THAN TWO ASSISTANTS. CHOOSE YOUR PARTY."

"Quistis, Xu, to my left and right then." Squall made his decision.

"VERY WELL, THE REST OF YOU STAND BACK. NOW BEGIN."

Cerberus reached us towards the ceiling with his heads and howled. He was instantly bathed in a green light. He lowered his heads and this time sank down his lower legs and stuck his tail up in the air as if waiting to pounce.

"Xu, magic support!" Quistis' mind leapt into action. "Shell, and Barrier if you have them."

"Cover me." Squall agreed.

Quistis and Xu cast their respective spells on Squall who leapt into the fray. His first slash went right across the middle face of the beast, who instantly made to counter, but had the power taken out of his blow by Squall's barrier, with the effect of only knocking him back slightly. But this left the left head open to attack, to which Squall took full advantage of, coming in for a second slash. The beast reared back this time and utilised it's magic. Squall was quite prepared for the first Fira spell which was launched at him and dodged it easily, but was shocked as two more were instantly launched at him. These two proved a lot trickier and Squall was caught full on from the third. The Shell absorbed much of the damage, but Squall was sent hurtling backwards nonetheless.

"It cast three spells at once!" Sephie gasped from the sidelines.

From here Cerberus pounced straight towards the group, scattering them. As it leant in to attack Squall and Quistis, Xu drew her own weapon, a spear with a curved blade. Positioning the curve downwards, she readied herself. Holding the blade behind her in only one hand, she pushed down on the shaft with the other, bringing the blade through in an upwards arc straight into the throat of the first head. As the blade came back down behind her, she switched her hands round to repeat the motion. Repeating this pattern she ran underneath the heads of the beast, with the effect of slicing through the throats of all three heads.

This bought Squall and Quistis the time they needed to prepare. Positioning themselves either side, they focused on both of the outside heads. Both rushing in for the attack they drew simultaneous blows across the outside heads. Xu meanwhile came in for the centre one with her spear. Twirling it around in the opposite fashion to before, so that the blade was coming overhead from each side in turn, she leapt in. With the spear spinning so fast, the blade rained down multiple blows across the centre head, with the effect that Cerberus leapt back and resumed his initial position in the centre hall.

"ENOUGH!" he roared and cast an approving glare across the three of them. "SKILL WITH YOUR WEAPONS, STRATEGY, TEAMWORK… THAT IS WHAT I WANTED TO SEE. YOU ARE INDEED STRONG IN CHARACTER AND SKILL. I SHALL LEND YOU MY POWERS."

"What does that mean?" Rinoa was curious; it was the first time she'd ever seen a GF in action.

"YOU SAW HOW I CAST THREE SPELLS AT ONCE." He told them. "I CAN GRANT THAT POWER TO EACH OF YOU. IN ADDITION I HAVE MANY SPELLS I CAN LEND YOU. HASTE, BARRIER, ESUNA. I'M SURE THEY WILL ALL BE USEFUL IN YOUR FIGHT AGAINST THE SORCERESS."

"We won't fail." Squall told him in grim determination.

"I found someone with a keycard." The student who'd left came up to them and handed it over. "This will get you to the office. Good luck."

"It probably isn't safe here right now." Squall told her. "Get the students together." He turned to Xu. "Xu, I want you lead the evacuation to Balamb Garden."

"What?" Xu gasped. "Surely you need all the help you can get."

"We have to try by ourselves first." Quistis gently put it to her friend. "Trust me on this one."

"If we don't come out in an hour, lead the attack on her in full force." Squall told her.

Xu saluted and ran off to the dorms after the students. The remaining six merely looked at each other; not needing any words, they all turned back towards the lift. Putting the keycard in, Squall selected the highest floor. In silence, they ascended, for what seemed like forever, though it could only have been a matter of seconds.

Finally, the doors opened and they stepped outside.

"Oh you guys shouldn't have! I was gonna come visit you at my old home!" Seifer laughed as they entered.

"Shut up!" Squall snarled at him. After all he'd been through, he'd not arrived here to listen to Seifer's idiotic comments. He quickly scanned the room. The office was quite spacious, especially since Edea seemed to have removed all the furniture from the room, bar one grand chair, almost like a throne, that she was sitting back in, her head to one side resting on one hand, surveying the scene as if it was some vague, almost boring amusement to her.

"Have you come to fight Matron? After all she's done for us?" Seifer got down to the point.

Squall was a little taken aback. Seifer knew about this as well?

"Seems you know just as well as any of us Seifer." Quistis tried to reason with him. "You know how things have transpired and how she's hurting us now."

"You were part of our gang as well! You should join us!" Selphie was as cheerful as ever.

"Join you? To kill our matron who's done so much for us. Come over here and join us! There's no need for this bitterness. Instructor, I know you're upset because I got you fired, but I can make it up to you; you can wield more power than Cid would ever have granted you. Zell, I know we had a bit of a spat, but in the end, it all worked out for you didn't it?" he scanned the remaining group. "You're a Galbadian student! You should be over here anyway!" he gestured to Irvine.

"Hardly, I've heard what you did to the other students." Irvine glared back at him.

"If we're all bitter, it's because you've given us so much to be bitter about!" Rinoa agreed.

"Oh come on Rinoa, surely you can remember how…" he never finished his sentence as Rinoa rewarded him with a vicious slap across his face.

"How you betrayed me? Yes, I remember." Rinoa reached for her pinwheel. "Is that how you treat all girls you profess to love? Leave them to die at the hands of your Matron?"

"Seifer it's too late. You can't mess with our minds." Squall told him. "You've gone too far now. We're here to fight Matron. You can leave us to it, fight with us, or stay there. But if you do that, we shall just go through you. If you want to be our enemy, then you are that; another enemy, just like the monsters we fight."

Seifer reached up to where his face was stinging from Rinoa's outburst. All his sarcasm and snide ness was gone, and his anger was plain to see.

"You're comparing me to one of them? I'm the Sorceress' knight." He drew his gunblade. "Look at you, attacking in a swarm! You're the monsters!" He leapt straight at Squall, who quickly drew his own blade to parry. "Come on then! Let's go after these monsters!" Seifer jeered.

He really stood no chance though, not against six people. Zell simply stepped into the fray and punched him square in the jaw, sending him reeling to the ground, dropping his gunblade in the process. He reached to pick it back up, but Squall stepped on his arm.

"Seifer, give it up! How much do you have to lose before you realise how futile your charade is!" Quistis looked down at him.

"I've not lost! I've gained!" Seifer snarled back. "I shall protect my Matron!"

"Enough!" Edea rose out of her seat; obviously now bored with the show. Instantly the atmosphere seemed darker and more chilled. The group all shivered, it was as if the fear in the air was tangible.

"Don't give into it!" Squall hissed. "Junction as much magic as you can to your status defence!"

"Worthless child!" Edea looked down at Seifer with pure contempt, then turned her attention to Squall. "So, the time has come. You're the legendary SeeD destined to face me?"

_ What is she talking about?_

"I must say, I'm impressed." She continued "You have indeed been an impressive nuisance, and I've had just about enough. Your life ends here."

Seifer meanwhile had crawled over to her side, and drew himself up to his feet. "You'll all perish!" he snarled at them.

Edea however, merely slapped him round the face sending him, once more to the floor. "Shut up." She glared back at him. "Worthless fool!"

Selphie has just about had enough "You're not our Matron!" she cried out.

"Whoever you are we don't know you!" Irvine agreed.

"Don't hold anything back!" Squall told them, and as if by some signal, they all drew their weapons and jumped into the attack. "Draw her attention, I'm summoning Cerberus." Squall told Zell. "Irvine, covering fire!"

Irvine drew his gun and aimed it directly at her head. Just as in the sniper attempt, she merely drew her hand up and blocked the bullet in midair, but that distraction was enough for Zell to get in close. He managed to land a blow to her head, but as he reached in for a grab, he suddenly screamed. Edea's skin was boiling to the touch! Smiling, Edea released her fire spell and instead, raising her arm, lifted Zell into the air telekinetically. Pointing her finger, she sent him flying through the air, to where Quistis and Rinoa were approaching, knocking them over like skittles.

The group were suddenly bathed in a green light, and they realised Cerberus had leant them his powers.

"I have that Haste spell!" Selphie told Squall.

"Cast it on everyone!" Squall ordered.

"Draw her attention away from me!" Selphie nodded.

Squall dived in on the attack. He brought his blade down towards Edea, who merely stepped aside and drew her arms again. Squall turned round to face her, but was hit by a gust of air, which sent him flying back towards the wall.

"Squall!" Rinoa cried out, launching her pinwheel into the air. Once more, Edea raised her hand, and the pinwheel glowed bright read, before dropping to floor, little more than a pool of molten metal. All of a sudden it was Edea's turn to cry out, as in the distraction, Irvine managed to shoot a bullet straight into her hand.

"See how easily she manages her hand tricks now." He muttered under his breath.

The time allowed was also enough for Selphie to cast the Haste spell, and the group instantly found themselves able to move twice as quick.

Squall picked himself up onto his feet. "Zell, Quistis! Delta formation!" he ordered.

Following his orders, they all leapt in at Edea from a different angle, so that Edea could not concentrate on all three at once. Assessing the risk, she turned her attention first to Squall. With her good hand outstretched, she launched a fireball off at him. The added speed allowed him to dodge it easily enough, but doing so meant he had to leap to the side, allowing Edea to focus on both him and Quistis. This time she raised her other arm and a huge pinnacle of ice instantly emanated from the floor underneath them sending them both flying into the air. Zell however had managed to get in close enough to attack her. Leaping into the air he executed a magnificent crescent kick to her head, the added speed of which sent her flying. He jumped in to attack her again, but as he landed, the floor erupted beneath him and all manner of debris was sent flying into the air. A particularly large chunk of what had previously been the floor was sent hurtling into the roof, the impact of which destroyed the area around it, raining more bricks and other rubble down onto the group.

"Argh!" Selphie suddenly screamed clutching her head.

"Selphie! Are you hit?" Irvine yelled out to her.

"No! It's my mind! She's drawing…"

A bright light surrounded Edea's hand, and the group watched, astounded as Irvine's bullet hole healed itself. Raising it to the air, a red glow surrounded it, from which a fresh volley of fireballs came raining down towards the group, who instantly dived for whatever cover they could find.

"She's taken my Haste spell, and the Triple spell ability that Cerberus gave us!" Selphie wailed.

"Damn! We're on even terms again!" Zell cursed.

"Not even." Quistis sighed. "She's got those magic enhancements on top of her own abilities."

"The six of us can't defeat her!" Irvine yelled to Squall as another chunk of brick from the floor crashed into the roof above them, raining debris down again.

"Five." Rinoa cursed. "She's disarmed me, remember?"

"Then we need more attackers." Squall decided. "Zell, Quistis, Selphie, summon your GFs!"

"But we're inside!" Quistis gasped. "We'll destroy the building!"

"She's already doing that!" Squall pointed out. "If we don't do something, she's going to take us all out!"

"We'll give you the time!" Irvine told him, drawing his gun. "Rinoa, use whatever magic you can do keep her focused on us."

Rinoa nodded, and focused on her own inventory. Selecting her Fira spell, she launched it at the Sorceress, as if wanting to play her back at her own game. Edea was busy blocking Irvine's bullets, when she noticed the wave of fire spreading along the floor towards her. Using her new-found speed, she ducked out the way, but ended up sprawling on the floor. Picking her self up, she glared at them and raised her hands, but all of a sudden stopped in her tracks. Irvine stared wondering what had caused her to stop so suddenly. The answer came in the form a huge fireball hurtling through the ceiling, followed by the demonic form of Ifrit. Raising her hands to attack this new-found threat, she was suddenly lifted off her feet as the wall in front her imploded in, followed by a huge wave of ice, courtesy of Shiva.

"Never thought I'd find myself fighting alongside you!" Ifrit growled at the goddess; forever fated to be his opposite and most formidable opponent.

From the bridge of Balamb Garden, Xu and Nida were watching the scene from a safe distance; their mouths open, too stunned to speak from the destruction they were witnessing. Ifrit and Shiva were crashing through the walls; in the skies above, Quezacotl was raining lightning bolts down onto Galbadia Garden. Huge explosions were blowing huge chunks of the building into the air.

All of a sudden, Nida grabbed Xu's arm. "Xu, is that what I think it is?" he pointed towards the sea.

Xu watched, open-mouthed as a huge sea-serpent drew itself out from the ocean. Raising itself high into the air, the sea seemed almost to rise in a wall beneath it.

"Leviathan! Quistis acquired it years ago!" Xu whispered in awe. "She always said she was waiting for an opportunity to use it."

"That wall has to be about half a mile high!" Nida's voice was reduced to a whisper as well.

The pair watched as Leviathan shot forwards towards Galbaida, the wall of water following, now as a huge tidal wave.

"Thank God this continent's deserted." Nida offered up a silent prayer as the wave collided with Galbadia.

Inside the scene was one of utter chaos.

"Brace yourselves! Hold onto whatever you can!" Squall told them as the room shook violently.

The group all shut their eyes as the force of the tidal wave brought Galbadia Garden crashing down towards the ground. The impact threw the group everywhere as the colossal building skidded through the floor, breaking up into many pieces, leaving a huge trail in the ground behind it, before it finally came to a rest.

Squall opened his eyes and found himself barely able to move. The whole area around them was bathed in a light so bright, he felt he wanted to close them, but daren't because there was something in the atmosphere that seemed to tell him to watch. The light gave way a bit, and he saw Rinoa walking away from him. Her head was hung down, and the way she was walking was the most unnatural thing Squall had ever seen. The entire right side of her body lifted up, as if pulled by a string, moved forward and then dropped to floor; the left side of her body then followed the pattern. She then dropped down to the floor in a heap. It was as if she was a marionette, being manipulated by a clumsy child. She remained there for several seconds and then sat up. Much to Squall's surprise, Seifer then stood up; a look of purpose in his eyes. Without saying a word, he started walking off into the light. When Squall could no longer see him, the light all of a sudden subsided and Rinoa collapsed to the ground again. Squall picked himself up, and watched as, rubbing their eyes, the others did so too.

All of a sudden, a coughing sound got their attention. They looked towards a pile of rubble to see Edea picking herself up. Squall was about to reach for his weapon, but stopped as he saw her.

The malefic presence that had always surrounded her was gone and he no longer felt afraid. The opposite in fact; appeased, even happy. But the most startling difference of all, was her face. Before, she had glared at them with cruel eyes; now she was smiling; a sort of wistful smile, halfway between joy and sorrow, and her eyes surveyed them with a faraway, almost regretful look. Wiping a tear from her eyes, she spoke to them; and the group were stunned, as it was the kindly voice they remembered from their matron.

"My children…" she began. "Squall, Zell, Irvine. Quistis, Selphie. You've all grown so much… and become so strong. I've been waiting for this day; the day I trained you for. Yet also, I have feared this day would come; that it may come to this. Cid was right, but I refused to believe him." She wiped another tear from her eye, and smiled again. "Is today a joyous day, or an odious one?" Then, all of a sudden, her look changed, to one of horror. "Where is Ellone?" she looked at them, a sense of urgency in her voice. "Have I protected Ellone?" She asked again, sounding more desperate.

The group stared at her, confused. "Protected…?" Squall began.

"Squall!" Quistis' voice all of a sudden cut into his thoughts. He turned to see her kneeling over the body of Rinoa.

"Rinoa!" he cried, rushing over to her.

Selphie turned back to look at Edea, surveying the scene, tears welling up in her eyes. Covering them up, she turned away and ran. Selphie then turned back to Squall.

Squall too was fighting tears in his eyes as he held Rinoa in his arms. Her breathing was slowing down and becoming almost unnoticeable, her skin pale and growing cold.

"Rinoa…" he pleaded. "Don't die. You can't die!" he was beginning to cry now, but for once he didn't care. Nothing mattered anymore. He didn't care where Edea was running to. Didn't care that he was baring his soul and putting on show the feelings he normally kept locked up deep inside of him.

The group watched as he held the near-lifeless body of Rinoa. Their friend who they'd all tried to help grow to let people in; to trust them, and in that moment none of them could find a word to say to him.

Balamb Garden had landed a safe distance away and a group of SeeDs were emerging to find out what had happened.

Xu came running over to them, a smile on her face which faded as she surveyed the scene. "I'm going to get Dr. Kadowaki." A lump came to her throat. The group turned and followed, leaving Squall alone with Rinoa to share those final moments with her.


	29. The Truth About Edea

29. The Truth About Edea

Squall didn't know how long he'd been sitting there, on the ground by the ruins of Galbadia Garden, holding Rinoa in his arms before Xu and Selphie arrived back with Dr. Kadowaki.

"Squall…" Dr. Kadowaki knelt down beside him, finally causing him to look up. "Squall, come on, lets get her to the infirmary."

Squall looked around to see Zell and Irvine on either end of a stretcher. Nodding, he silently stood up, lifting Rinoa up with him and gently placed her on the stretcher. Still, without speaking, he walked alongside the stretcher back to Garden. Zell and Irvine looked at their friend, walking silently with his head held down. They were used to Squall being silent; but normally it was because he was hiding his feelings. This time things were different; we wasn't hiding these feelings, they were openly on display, and neither of them knew how to talk to him like this.

The journey continued in silence until they finally reached the infirmary, where they laid her down on the infirmary bed. Dr. Kadowaki looked at the group, not quite sure how to tactfully ask Squall to leave.

Irvine read her thoughts, however. "Come on Squall. Let's let the doctor do her job."

Still in silence, Squall allowed himself to be led away, whereupon he left the Doctor to see to Rinoa, and returned to his room.

Awkwardly, Zell and Irvine exchanged glances.

"Wow, if he takes his losses like that, I'm starting to understand why he doesn't let people close to him." Zell breathed.

"He's lost someone he loves." Irvine told him, thinking of how he'd feel if he lost Selphie. "You probably don't remember, but that was how he dealt with losing Ellone. He just distanced himself from everyone."

"You mean all that work we've done on him has just been undone?" Selphie pouted a little.

"Selphie! Come on! That's not the right way to think!" Zell was taken aback.

"But Rinoa's not actually dead… is she?" Selphie looked up at them, begging them to say no.

"I don't know Selphie." Irvine sighed. "I don't know if she's dying, or dead. Let's just leave Dr. Kadowaki to see to her. And I don't think all the work we've done on Squall's for nothing. In fact, I have a funny feeling he's going to need us now more than ever. I just wish it hadn't taken something like this to do it." He sighed again. "Come on, let's get out of here, and give them some space."

It was an hour before Xu knocked on Squall's door.

"Squall." She said softly. "Dr. Kadowaki wants to see you. I… I don't know what for."

"It's alright." Squall replied in his former curt manner. "I don't get my hopes up. I'm prepared for the worst."

Xu didn't say anything, as she could see from the reddening of Squall's eyes; it was clear he'd been crying. Instead he allowed himself to be led to the infirmary.

He walked in to see Rinoa lying peacefully in the intensive care room.

"How is she?" Squall got straight to the point.

"Well, she's alive, and stable." Dr. Kadowaki got the good news down first.

"So what's wrong with her?" Squall asked, not sure if he wanted to hear the answer.

"That's the thing, I don't know." This time the Doctor looked a bit downcast. "It's so unusual; no not unusual, unique. Her breathing and heart rate are down to minimal level, in the same state they enter when we sleep."

"She's in a coma?"

"It would seem so." She replied. "But the funny thing is, there's nothing apparently wrong with her. I've brain scanned her, x-rayed; every injury test I know; nothing! There are no broken bones, cuts or bruises. All her organs are working correctly; vital signs all reading good. It really is like she's in a sleep she can't wake up from. I've never seen anything like it."

"But she's alive?" Squall sounded a bit more anxious.

"She's alive, and looking like she will be for the foreseeable future. I just don't know what's wrong with her. I'm really sorry Squall."

"It's a spell!" Squall was suddenly full of venom. "The Sorceress! She must have put her under some kind of spell!"

A small cough from behind got their attention to where Xu had been waiting. "Erm, Squall, I don't know if this is the best time to tell you this, but I think you should know. Since you were obviously in no state to sort anything out, I took the liberty of organising a few things for you. I hope you don't mind."

Squall's expression didn't change, nor did he speak.

Xu coughed again, a little more awkwardly. "You may remember, after you destroyed Galbadia Garden, the Sorceress ran away. I thought we should find her, so I organised a search party. For some reason, Quistis, Zell, Selphie and Irvine insisted it be them. I got a radio call from them just five minutes before I knocked on your door saying they'd followed her to some house about four miles south of the crash site, right by the sea. They say they're standing guard outside and waiting for you."

"Take us there!" Squall commanded.

"Erm, I've already given the order. We've touched down a safe distance away. It's about five to ten minutes walk."

"I'm going." Squall said simply, walking out the infirmary.

Squall trudged along the barren landscape of Centra, with grim determination: to find the Sorceress, find out what she'd done to Rinoa and put things right. As he walked over the final hill, however, he stopped in his tracks. In stark contrast to the typical bare rock landscape of Centra, the other side of the hill was a mass of vegetation. Long grass blew in the wind coming in from the sea, with wild flowers growing everywhere. It looked like it had once been a beautiful garden, but years of neglect had taken their toll. In the middle stood an ancient stone house, again ravaged by time and neglect. Running now, Squall headed through the fields towards the house.

As he reached it, he slowed down, looking round in near disbelief.

"This is…" he began.

"It's the orphanage, yes." Irvine finished his sentence, then gave an ironic smile. "It seems we've chased her home. We've been waiting for you; we thought this was something we should all do together."

Squall looked around at his companions, sitting or standing in the grass outside the main entrance. "Let's go." He nodded, walking towards the door. He opened it, and nearly jumped back in surprise when he saw Cid standing there. "Headmaster?" he gasped in surprise.

Cid laughed. "Am I really worthy of being called that? What must you think of me eh?" he scratched his head. "I didn't really know what to do. Your defeat would mean the loss of you, your victory? The loss of my wife. I couldn't bear to face either situation." He gave a resentful smile. "So I ran here, home. I was overjoyed when Edea arrived earlier, telling me it was all over and neither side had to die." He looked at them apologetically. "I'm not asking for myself, but please forgive Edea. She's waiting for you outside, in the back garden."

Confused, the group followed him out to the back, where they found Edea looking lost and lonely, gazing out to sea. She turned round to see them, and bowed her head, sorrowfully. "My children, please forgive me. I raised you as my own, yet still I…" she broke off, unable to think about what she'd done.

"We feel the same!" Squall snapped, exasperated. Every time he seemed close to answers, they lead to more and more puzzling questions.

Zell nodded in agreement. "We fought you too! Knowing you were our Matron."

Edea nodded. "You are SeeDs. You cannot back out of a battle I know; it's how we trained you." She smiled this time, and looked at them as a proud mother looks at her own children when they have made an achievement. "You were magnificent! You really were! You did us both so proud. But it is not over yet."

The group instinctively started to reach for their weapons, but something stopped them. There was no trace of threat in Edea's words.

"Matron, please!" Selphie looked downcast. "What are you telling us? Why if you're so proud of us did you try and kill us?"

Drawing her breath, Edea stood up and looked directly at them. "I have been possessed." She told them. "I was at the mercy of another Sorceress, a Sorceress named Ultimecia, who's goal is to find Ellone; to exploit her mysterious power. Sorceress Ultimecia's heart is filled with anger and hatred; there was no way I was going to let her get hold of Ellone, but in the battle to protect her, I lost control of my mind to her, and have been at the mercy of her will. And the end result… well, you all saw it. The Sorceress that reigned over Galbadia was Sorceress Ultimecia in my shell." She looked at the group and saw that a couple of them, Irvine and Quistis were looking at her with a touch of scepticism. "You've all experienced it before. When Ellone sends you back into another person's body, and you view things through their eyes. Well, Ultimecia has somehow found a way to take it one step further and be in control of the body."

"So if she's more powerful than Ellone, why does she need her?" Zell wanted to know.

Edea took another deep breath. "Ultimecia's overall goal is not to rule the world, but to rule time itself. She lives in the future; many generations ahead of our own. In order to cast the spell for Time Compression, which will allow her to achieve her dominance, she needs to manifest herself in three time periods at once, so she can cast one spell into the future, and one into the past, causing time to compress to the middle point."

"So that's why she needs Ellone!" Selphie understood. "She exists in the future, and here, but she needs to exist in the past as well!"

Edea nodded. "This is why this is not the end. Ultimecia may choose to try and possess me again. This time, I plan to make a stand, but if that fails, I may have to face you in battle once again."

Quistis realised something. "Matron, you said she 'may' choose to possess you again. Who else might she choose?"

"Have any of you heard of Sorceress Adel?" Edea looked at them.

"She was the ruler of Esthar during the Sorceress War wasn't she?" Zell offered.

Edea nodded. "Many people thing I was the one who received Sorceress Adel's powers when she died. However, that is not the case. I received my powers at the age of five. In addition, it was never actually proved that Adel died. All we know is that Esthar declared an abrupt end to the war and then severed all communication with other countries. No-one knows who rules Esthar now." She paused for breath. "Anyway, I believe Sorceress Adel is still alive, and that Sorceress Ultimecia plans to use her body now. Adel's powers are greater than mine, should she succeed in possessing her body, the reign of terror would be worse than what she accomplished with me. Especially due to the ruthless nature at which Adel uses her powers."

Finally Squall could take it no longer. "Matron, what about Rinoa? What happened to her?"

Edea looked a little confused. "Rinoa. Was she the girl with the long, dark hair who was with you?" Squall nodded. "I vaguely remember her. Why, what happened to her?"

"After the fight, when Galbadia Garden crashed, there was this blinding light." Squall told her.

"That was when Sorceress Ultimecia released me." Edea informed him. "She thought I was going to die, and if she stayed in my body, she'd perish as well."

"Rinoa walked like a zombie over to Seifer, whispered something to him and then just collapsed." Squall struggled to recount everything. "Her body went cold and she fell into a coma."

"Did Rinoa die?" Cid put a hand to his mouth.

"No." Squall told him. "But she's in a coma and Dr. Kadowaki can't figure out what's wrong with her. I… I thought she may be under a spell."

"This happened after Ultimecia released me." Edea told him. "If it is, I don't know what it is, or whatever else may have happened. I'm sorry Squall, I don't think I can help you here."

Cid strode over to him. "Listen Squall, I know how you feel, but the other students at Garden have a right to know about the outcome of the battle and what to expect. Take whatever information you can here back to Garden. Remember, it wasn't just Rinoa. Everyone fought."

Squall sighed. "Headmaster, I know all of this already. But…"

Cid cut him off. "But, but, but! That isn't something a leader should say!"

At this, Squall exploded. "I never asked to be leader! I didn't even want it! You just threw it upon me without even asking me! A leader I may be, but I'm still a person, and I sometimes think you forget that!"

The group were taken aback; they'd never seen him so angry.

Irvine tried to calm the mood. "Look Squall, we're all worried about Rinoa."

"Then why don't you… Forget it." Squall gave up, despondently.

"Squall…" Cid began.

This time it was Squall's turn to cut him off. "Basically, we have to prevent Ultimecia getting hold of Ellone."

"Well, yes." Cid agreed. "But I don't think it's going to be as simple as that."

"Well I'm making it simple!" Squall decided. Ultimecia had taken away one of the people he loved the most, he wasn't letting her taking away the other. He turned to walk away. "Come on, we're going back to Garden."

Back up on the bridge, Squall was finishing his report to Garden. "The threat from Edea has been neutralised, but there is another Sorceress that we, as SeeDs need to deal with. The first, and primary objective is to find, and guard Ellone. After that, we deal with the other Sorceress, Sorceress Ultimecia." He was saying. "That about concludes the report. If there is anything else you need to know, please consult one of the senior SeeD officers. Squall Leonheart out." He put the mic down.

"I'm not sure I like the way you referred to her as 'neutralised'." Quistis made a face.

"It's easier that way." Squall shrugged. "It would be too complicated to explain about Ultimecia being from the future and Edea being possessed and all that."

"I think people should know she's alive and back to normal." Quistis was still unsure.

Xu shook her head. "Squall's right" she told her friend. "I mean, I believe what you've told me, but I think a lot of people would find it hard to swallow." She paused, a little awkwardly. "I don't really want to say it in front of you two, but I don't think many people would be so forgiving. Remember, she wasn't everyone else's kind Matron. To many she's nothing but the evil Sorceress who terrorised them. I'm sorry, but…"

Squall and Quistis nodded, not really liking how she was being described, but knowing Xu was right.

"I think it's best she stays at the Orphanage, out the way, and no-one need know about it." Squall said. "We just say the threat from Sorceress Edea has been neutralised and leave it at that. That way we're not lying to anyone."

"But what if Ultimecia possesses her again and she shows her face again?" Quistis had another though. "It won't go down too well if in a couple of weeks we're fighting the threat we told everyone had been neutralised."

"I'm not sure that's so much of a problem." Squall considered the matter. "She possessed Edea to get hold of Ellone. Edea has no power in Galbadia anymore, nor does she have access to Ellone. I don't think there's much she can achieve in Edea's body anymore. Sorceress Adel on the other hand might be a bit more of a problem. If she is indeed still alive, and in control of Esthar, the most powerful nation on the planet, then there's a lot more to be achieved there."

"But no-one knows the situation in Esthar anymore." Xu reminded him.

"Then we need to find out. As soon as possible." Squall decided.

"All right, I'll get someone on the matter." Xu nodded.

"Well, unless anyone's got anything to raise, I think that's everything concluded." Squall decided to wrap things up. He looked at Quistis and Xu who both shook their heads. Relieved, he headed for the lift and descended to the ground. He'd had enough of dealing with Sorceresses and SeeDs for one day. And all of a sudden, it all seemed to pale into insignificance when there was only one thing on his mind. Rinoa.

Walking into the infirmary, he looked at Dr. Kadowaki who merely nodded at him, knowing what he wanted. He walked into Rinoa's intensive care unit and looked at her, still lying on the bed in exactly the same position he'd left her. He knelt down by the bed and leaned over her, enough to make out her faint breathing, to reassure himself she was still alive. He put one hand to her forehead and was shocked to find how cold her skin was, but moreso to the fact that she didn't even response. He though about lively she used to be, and energetic, always so full of life.

"Rinoa." He found himself whispering, taking her hand. "Please, just say something. Anything. Please. I want to hear you say my name."

A tear came to his eye slightly as she failed to even respond, yet he knew he was still hoping against reason. With nothing else to do or anything on his mind, he simply stayed there, holding her hand until he finally fell asleep.


	30. A Glimmer of Hope

30. A Glimmer of Hope

"Ack! Why do I have to do this?" Laguna moaned as he looked at the shining knights' outfit he was wearing.

"Because we ain't got any money!" Kiros reminded him, as Ward looked on sternly. "At least that's what Ward says."

It was nearly 2 years since the incident at Centra and Ward had still never regained his voice. True to his word though, Kiros could tell exactly what his friend was thinking simply by looking at his facial expressions.

"Ah ok! I'm sorry." Laguna apologised to his friends. "I guess it's my fault we stayed at the hotel so often."

He though back to all the times in the army when he'd gone in to see Julia play. Since leaving Winhill he'd returned to Deling City in the hope of seeing her, but after a month of failed visits, he'd returned to Winhill and taken solace in Raine's company. He felt grateful that he was able to merely show back up and have her take him straight back in. He was surprised at just how pleased she'd been to see him again. Ellone had, of course, been ecstatic to see him again. In fact, he realised he'd never been happier than when he was with them, and with his two best friends living there as well, things had never been better.

The problem was, he didn't have enough money to support them all. He'd been searching in vain for journalist jobs in any newspaper where he could work from Winhill. He'd applied for the actor's job Kiros had found for a low-budget film, simply because he knew with utter conviction that he'd never get the part. It was to his utter shock, therefore, when he was given the part of the knight and had now been whisked away to the other side of the world, to a cold canyon in the south Trabia mountains, just overlooking the border with Esthar. Admittedly, he was quite excited about the prospect of being in a film. If nothing else, for the way Raine & Ellone would admire him for it, and the fact it would up his job prospects for being a journalist someday. The problem was he still had no faith in his acting ability. "Seriously though, I'm not cut out to be an actor." He voiced his thoughts.

"So you say, but we know you're quite excited really!" Kiros grinned at him.

Laguna raised an eyebrow. There was no doubting his ability to read people's faces. Sometimes Laguna wondered if Kiros was just reading his mind outright.

"But I'm still an amateur!" Laguna reminded him. "I've never done anything like this before. I'm not entirely in love with this costume either."

"Ah, ah! No complaining!" Kiros waved a finger at him.

"No, seriously, you look good in it!" The director arrived on the scene. "This is your co-star by the way, who'll be playing the Sorceress." He gestured to a young woman behind him dressed in a long flowing red dress, adorned with all manner of jewellery.

"Pleased to meet you!" The woman waved at him.

This barely registered with Laguna. "W-Wait, my co-star?" he blurted. "So, I'm the star? I thought I was just an extra or something!"

Ward glared at him. Laguna could read him as well as Kiros, but he knew roughly what he was saying.

"All right! All right!" he sighed. "So we're lucky I got the part! As long as we make some money, right?"

Ward smiled and Laguna knew he'd hit the right note at least. He took a deep breath in and tried to mentally prepare himself.

"Don't worry, you'll do fine!" The director assured him, then turned towards Kiros. "Actually, I was wondering if I could as a favour."

"What is it?" Kiros was a little surprised.

"Well, the guy playing the part of the dragon hasn't shown up. I was wondering if you could just put the costume on and, well walk down the mountainside for me. I'll pay you too."

"Uh, sure, I guess." Kiros couldn't see any reason why not to.

"Great! The costume's just over there!" The director gestured towards the far end of the canyon. "If you talk to that guy wearing the headscarf, he'll show you how to put it on."

"Sure, no problem." Kiros went off to get changed.

"OK everyone!" The director clapped his hands. "Take your positions."

The set was instantly a hive of activity as people started rushing around, and preparing things. Amidst all the chaos, no-one heard Kiros' scream from high above the canyon…

"Oh sir knight!" The Sorceress was pleading. "I've been offered up for sacrifice to the dragon by those who fear my powers."

"N-Not to worry! I shall s-slay the dragon for you!" Laguna was very nervous by now.

"Don't worry, we can do voice editing afterwards. Keep going." The director hissed.

Laguna reached down for the gunblade sheathed at his side. He felt he should do something fancy with it, but he hadn't used one since his basic training in the Galbadian military, and that was years ago now. Nervously he drew it, holding it at an unsteady angle.

_No, come on. Like this!_

He tried a few swings and found that he could actually wield the weapon far better than he'd ever remembered.

"Excellent! That looks fantastic. OK! Bring on the dragon!" The director gave him a thumbs up.

If Laguna's improvised swordplay had looked impressive, then the sight of the dragon slowly making its way down the canyon was even more so. A gigantic red dragon with grand, black horns slowly emerged on set, evilly looking round at the entire cast.

"Wow! Looks just like the real thing!" The director was impressed.

"Um, sir." The stage hand next to him looked a little confused. "I don't remember the costume being that big in rehearsals."

The director merely shrugged and gestured for the action to continue.

The dragon bared down on Laguna, who responded by holding his gunblade out in a defensive position. He made a thrust towards the dragon, not aiming to actually strike it, as his friend was inside. He was quite surprised therefore, when the dragon took a huge swipe at him. Laguna was taken aback, but able to dodge out the way in time.

"Jeez, Kiros is sure taking this seriously." He muttered under his breath.

This time he took a swipe at the dragon, just clipping the end of the nose. The dragon roared and bared back down on Laguna, lunging at him with it's jaws, narrowly missing as Laguna backed off, at which point the dragon swiped at him again.

"WHOA!" Laguna yelled this time. "Take it easy Kiros!"

At this point, the dragon stood back up on it's hind legs, reared it's head back and let forth a huge breath of fire, making crew and cast all jump up in shock.

"Wha- Is this thing real!" Laguna realised with horror.

"Real? No wonder. Run!" The director jumped to his feet. Within seconds, the canyon was a hive of activity as everyone ran to the other end. All except Ward, who'd picked up his massive harpoon and flung it at the beast, aiming to distract it from his friend. The harpoon landed in the rear flank of the dragon, where it embedded itself. The problem now was that with the spear lodged in the creature, there was no safe way for him to retrieve it. The dragon realised that and merely swung its tail in Ward's direction to knock him off his feet. It knew that Laguna was the only threat to him at that point and so bore down on him again.

Laguna, trembling, released the safety catch on his gunblade and thrust it into the side of the dragon's neck, closed his eyes and pulled the trigger. He'd been expecting kick back from the shot, but he was impressed at how he handled it, pulling it up in an arc through the top of the neck. Unfortunately, the dragon's armour was too thick to kill it, but it left a nice gash that was clearly painful for it. But even more unfortunately, it had served to make the dragon angry. It reared up on its hind legs again and let forth another jet of flame. Laguna instantly sensed what was coming and turned tail to flee. He was only just in time as the dragon blazed off at the area where he'd previously been standing. Laguna desperately ran for the end of the canyon and through a narrow gap in the wall where he stopped to get his breath back.

He risked a glimpse out into the canyon to see what the dragon was up to, and was relieved to see it appeared to have lost interest in him and was browsing round the canyon. It was only then, with utter horror he realised it was baring down on Ward now, who was still passed out on the ground. He gripped his gunblade for courage; there was no way he could allow the dragon to kill his friend, especially since Ward had just saved his life. He just hoped his newfound gunblade skills would hold out. Gathering his courage together he ran straight out into the canyon where the dragon was waiting. Fortunately it had its back to him, and therefore didn't see him approach.

For years afterwards, Laguna could never work out why he did this, but he leapt straight onto the dragon's back and sunk the gunblade in between the shoulder blades of the beast and pulled the trigger. The dragon roared in pain and reared up onto its hind legs again. This combined with the kickback of the gunblade threw Laguna into the air and down onto the hard canyon floor. Groggily Laguna started to pick himself up off the floor when he realised the dragon was right above him. Looking round he saw that Ward, too, was only just picking himself up off the floor. The dragon reared up again and let forth a jet of flame. Laguna was about to shut his eyes and prepare for the end, when he noticed another figure had joined the fight. It was a young woman with skin as pale blue as the frost.

Laguna had read a fair few books in his time in his hope in his aspirations to become a journalist, and realised that she matched the description of Shiva, the Ice Goddess. But that was surely impossible. Why would a Goddess come to his aid right now? As if to quash his doubts however, the figure aimed her fingers at the dragon and let forth a huge shaft of ice. Laguna gaped as the jet of fire seemed to turn to ice in the dragon's mouth. In pain, the dragon started to gag, choking, it would seem on the icicle that it now had lodged in its throat. The next thing he knew, Kiros was standing over him, offering his hand. Laguna accepted it, and was helped onto his feet.

"Quick, grab Ward and let's get out of here!" he said.

Not quite understanding what was going on, Laguna silently obeyed.

"This way!" Kiros beckoned towards the top end of the canyon. "Yes, I know it's the way the dragon came down from." He added after seeing the look on Ward's face. "But there's a series of caves up there too small for it to follow us though. If we follow the rest of them down the canyon, we're pretty much running down a long tunnel and hoping we can outrun it." He explained.

"Kiros, what was that?" Laguna asked as they ran.

"I've no idea!" Kiros replied. "Well, you've noticed that buzzing in your head again, of course."

"The fairies." Laguna nodded.

"Whatever you want to call it that seems to add to our strength, and speed and everything. It must be something to do with that." Kiros looked over and saw that his friend was no near to understanding. "I don't know, I was just looking down the canyon, and I saw that you two were in trouble, and I knew I had to help, but there was no way I could get to you in time. I just started thinking of ways to help you. I was desperately concentrating and I just heard this voice in my head saying 'Don't worry, Sir Laguna will be fine!' and the next thing I know, that blue woman just appeared in the canyon behind the dragon."

The three of them carried on running in silence until they'd reached the top of the canyon and found their way to the caves Kiros had mentioned. Fumbling their way through, they reached the other side, and were looking down over a long plateau stretched out beneath them. In the darkening sky, they could make out small lights scattered across the floor in the far distance.

"So, we're safe then?" Laguna breathed.

"Relatively safe, I guess." Kiros replied.

"What do you mean by relatively safe?" Laguna asked a touch nervously.

"Well." Kiros scratched the back of his head. "I didn't want to say so at the time, but that canyon is right on the border, and when we passed through those caves, we crossed that border."

"You mean we're in Esthar!" Laguna realised, horrified. "Jeez, we'll probably have a patrol on us in seconds!"

"I wouldn't worry too much." Kiros reassured him. "I doubt they'll send patrols this far out. Look, the city's still miles away."

Laguna realised that the small lights he could see in the distance were the city lights. "Jeez, but that's one big city!" he remarked.

"I've never been there myself, but I hear the entire city's bigger than the isle of Balamb." Kiros agreed.

"I could well believe it." Laguna breathed out.

Their attention was drawn away from the city all of a sudden though, by the appearance of another, huge light over the city. Even from where they were standing, they could see the light was on the top of a huge structure that towered about 3 miles above the city, and was roughly half that across.

"…What …is that?" Laguna asked almost in a whisper.

"I have no idea." Kiros shook his head.

"I can't disconnect."

Squall all of a sudden realised he wasn't looking through Laguna's eyes at the dream world any more. In fact, he could see anything, but he heard the voice as clear as crystal.

"Disconnect?" He asked the blackness around him.

"Is that you Squall?" the voice came again, and Squall realised he recognised it.

"Ellone?"

"Yes it's me. It's nice to talk to you again Squall!" she replied.

"What's this connect thing?" he asked her.

"Oh, it's what I call using my special power. Connecting." She explained. "Oh, I must be asleep, that's why I can't control it." Her voice came with realisation.

"Well can I go back?" Squall asked her.

"Erm, sorry Squall, but can I use your spirit a little longer?"

Before he could reply, Squall found himself looking at a giant stone house. There was a woman talking to him, all dressed in black. With a start, Squall realised it was Edea, many years younger, and this was the orphanage, though well before he'd lived there.

"She isn't here either?" Laguna's head dropped in despair.

Edea shook her head. "I'm afraid not, I'm sorry. If I may ask, what happened to this Ellone?"

"She was kidnapped by Esthar soldiers." Laguna told her, remembering his grief as he returned from his acting trip to a tearful Raine, who'd told him that Esthar soldiers had raided the village in his absence. All at once he felt a mixture of sorrow for their loss, anger at himself for leaving the village unprotected and despair at the thought that he may never see who he considered now to be his daughter ever again. This was a month ago and he was now travelling the world trying to find out what had happened to her. "I've been trying to find a way into Esthar all I can, but…"

"They were looking for a successor to Sorceress Adel, yes?" Edea knew the situation all too well.

"Yeah, that's it!" Laguna nodded. "I, erm, didn't just come looking for you to see if she was here." He scratched his head nervously. "I, well, I… sorta heard somewhere…"

"That I'm a Sorceress." Edea finished the sentence for him. "That's right, I am. But I've never met Adel and I've never been to Esthar. I can't really help you I'm afraid. Though I hope you find… Well, I take it she is your daughter?"

"Well, kind of adopted." Laguna told her. "Ah, she's so cute. I wish I could hear her voice."

_I want to hear Rinoa's voice…_

"Is something wrong?" Edea asked him as she noticed Laguna's eyes dart upwards for a second.

"No, just the fairies." Laguna told her.

_I don't care if it's in the past or whatever. I want to hear Rinoa, I want to see Rinoa. That way there might be a chance to save her. Ellone, Sis, please, can you help me?_

"Huh, Ellone?" Laguna was confused. He'd often heard a slight voice in his head when the fairies, as he called them were around. But he'd never heard the voice ever really talk about anything before. But before he could wonder further, the buzzing in his head stopped, and the scene faded before Squall's eyes. Once more Squall found himself looking at nothing but the blackness around him.

"Squall, you can't change the past I'm sorry. I found that out now." Ellone spoke to him again. "You know about how I was kidnapped, of course, and Uncle Laguna's journey to find me. Well, because of that, he wasn't able to be by Raine's side when she died. Raine kept calling out for Laguna, because she wanted to show him her new baby boy. I tried to make Laguna stay in the village. But it didn't work." Her voice sounded wistful now. "I've never been able to make it to that exact moment. Also, I can only send you inside someone I've met before. I'm sorry Squall. I'm about to disconnect. But it was nice talking to you. I'll try and talk to you like this again someday. Bye Squall."

"Ellone! I don't need to change the past, I just need to know what happened! Then I might be able to find a way to cure her. Just send me to the moment Rinoa went into a coma!"

But he realised he was too late. He was shouting merely to the wall of the infirmary and Rinoa, who was still lying silently on the bed next to him.


	31. The White SeeDs

31. The White SeeDs

A/N: I apologise for the time it's taken to get this us. I ran into quite a few problems whilst writing this one. In the end I scrapped it, and started over.

"So what exactly are you saying?" Selphie was still a bit confused with the plan at hand. Squall had called a meeting of his friends to help him with the new task he'd appointed for himself.

"Rinoa's in a coma and we don't know what's caused it." Squall explained. "But we can find out! Ellone can take me inside Rinoa, just like when she takes us to Laguna and the Dream World!"

"Dream World?" Xu looked confused.

"I'll explain later." Quistis told her, knowing it would be quite hard for someone who'd not been there to understand what was going on.

"I think I understand." Irvine nodded. "We get Ellone to send you inside Rinoa just before she went into the coma and you can find out what caused it!"

"Exactly!" Squall nodded.

"But Squall, when we went to see Edea she said Ultimecia released her to avoid being killed if she was." Quistis remembered. "What if you fall into a coma with Rinoa?"

"It's a risk I'm willing to take." Squall said simply.

The others nodded. Since Rinoa had fallen into her coma, Squall had come out of his shell in a very big way.

"So, it sounds simple enough. What's the problem?" Selphie still thought she was missing something.

"Well, Ellone can only send people inside people she's met before." Squall explained.

"So we have to find Ellone and take Rinoa to her?" Zell thought he understood.

"But Squall." Xu said gently. "We don't know where Ellone is. She could be anywhere in the world by now. She's hiding from the Galbadians remember?"

"I think Edea might know." Squall told them. "Remember, we were all on our guard when the White SeeD ship showed up, because they said they were Edea's SeeDs."

"Oh yeah!" Zell remembered. "Only the Headmaster was unfazed because he knew what was going on!"

"Right." Squall agreed. "So Ellone's on the White SeeD ship, which is Edea's ship. So Edea may know where they are. That's the first part of the plan, anyway. Tell Nida to head back to Edea's house."

"It's a bit of a long shot though isn't it?" Xu frowned. "At the time, the ship was hiding from Edea to protect Ellone. It's not very likely that they'd let her know where they were going."

"But at the time, she wasn't Edea, she was Ultimecia." Squall reminded her.

"In any case, there's no harm in trying is there?" Selphie finished it off. "Come on. I'd like to go and see Matron and the Headmaster again anyway!"

With that the group head off again, making sure not to dock too near Edea's house, and once more, only the 5 of them, plus Xu disembarked to visit the orphanage.

"My children, welcome back." Edea greeted them once more. "And, I don't believe we've had the pleasure." She looked towards Xu.

"This is Xu. Previously my Deputy Head, and now Commander Squall's second-in-command, I believe." Cid introduced them.

"It's a pleasure." Edea greeted her. "Is there any way we can help you."

"The White SeeD ship." Squall got right to the point. "Do you know where it is?"

"Those… Those children are very cautious." Edea told him. "They'd never remain in one place for long."

"Why do you need to find the ship anyway?" Cid asked them.

"I need to see Ellone." Squall told him.

"It's two purposes really." Xu cut in. "One is, we believe we may be able to find a cure for Rinoa if Ellone can send us back to the moment she went into a coma. The second is to help protect her."

"This is where these children are cautious." Edea explained. "They believe that Ellone will be best protected through secrecy."

"The ship was built purely for the purpose of protecting Ellone." Cid told them. "Well, Squall, especially, but all of you are familiar with Laguna Loire of course."

"He saw her as his daughter, even though she was only adopted." Squall nodded. "He went on a big mission to save her after she was kidnapped. Matron, I believe he visited here to ask your help."

"You're quite correct." Edea nodded. "I couldn't help him get inside Esthar, but after he rescued her, we built this boat to protect her from Sorceress Adel. What with the Sorceress War ongoing, we ended up with more children and that's how the orphanage first started."

"But we were some of your first children, and I don't remember being on the boat." Irvine looked puzzled.

"It wasn't used for long." Cid explained. "It was only a matter of weeks after Laguna rescued Ellone that Esthar abruptly ended the war."

"Anyway." Edea moved on. "Squall, I'll write you a letter. When you find them, they'll be very suspicious. They don't know that I'm not under Sorceress Ultimecia's influence anymore. This letter should explain everything." She sat down on her desk and started writing.

"I'd be careful about what you say to them." Cid told Xu. "I know you have a lot more power than the ship to repel an attack should it occur, but I think they'll believe that Garden is too big a target."

"Well even if she stays on the ship, if we can find them if they need us, that can still help." Xu reasoned. "Only we six need know about it in the entire Garden. That way they can't interrogate us should they find us."

"In any case, Ultimecia's not in possession of anyone here anymore. It's not like we need to hide so much now!" Selphie said.

"It's not as simple as that." Edea warned them. "If Ultimecia wants Ellone, she'll find some way of getting to her. She may decide to try and repossess me remember. But if Adel is still alive, she may try something else. And even if she isn't, someone must have inherited her powers, so there is at least one more Sorceress out there for her to use. Be very careful, my children."

"We will Matron." Squall assured her. "But you said 'when' we find her. Are you sure we will?"

"If you head to the north of the Centra continent, around where the crater from the Lunar Cry is, you will find them within the next 3 or 4 days. Don't ask me how I know, for you wouldn't understand if I were to try and explain. But go now, and good luck my child." Edea sealed the letter and handed over to Squall, who accepted it.

"Thank you Matron." Squall saluted. "I hope to see you again soon."

"You will. I have every faith in you my children."

They all saluted and turned to leave.

"How can she be so sure we'll find them there?" Zell whispered as they left.

"She's a Sorceress. We don't know what kind of powers she may have." Selphie reminded him.

"It doesn't matter either way." Squall shrugged. "Let's just get back to Garden and head there as soon as possible."

Biggs was not a happy man. He'd sort of been feeling his way into the D-District Prison job, but after the Sorceress had been killed by SeeDs, the new president had pulled resources from various parts of the military and reassigned them to some treasure hunting lark in the middle of the ocean from what it seemed. He'd been stuck on a boat for the last two days now, in charge of sending down divers and sonar pulses to try and find some ancient treasure or something hundreds of feet below sea level. He didn't need this, he was a soldier, not a sailor. The Galbadian empire was mighty enough already to take over the world, apart from Esthar, and they just sat behind their walls, not even making contact to the rest of the world. Surely this new president wasn't just looking to become rich enough to buy weapons to attack Esthar?

"Lieutenant Biggs sir?" Wedge's voice cut into his thoughts. Yes, he still had this private dogging him everywhere into the bargain.

"What is it?" He snapped irritably.

"The diving team have returned sir!" Wedge saluted.

"And?" Biggs' hopes rose for a moment. Had they found what the president was looking for? Would promotions be on the horizon?

"Nothing sir." Wedge remarked.

"So, you've just come to tell me, nothing's happened?" Biggs deflated again.

"Well, um , yes sir." Wedge shuffled nervously.

"Any particular reason why?" Biggs asked through gritted teeth.

"Well, um, you're due to make your daily report to the president sir!" Wedge reminded him.

"YOU MAKE IT!" Biggs lost his temper. "Tell that miserable, over-fed idiot in the presidential suite that the results are the same this hour, as they have been every hour for the last two days and are unlikely to change! Tell him his treasure hunting scheme is a farce and a waste of time and if he wants this… thing, whatever it is, to get off his well-paid backside and look for it himself!" With that he turned to look over the railings and became lost in his own bad mood.

"Erm, yes sir, right away sir!" Wedge saluted and dismissed himself.

"President Almasy sir! The reports are in sir!" The presidential Aide strode into the suite. "Still nothing I'm afraid."

Seifer turned round in his chair. "Well tell them to keep looking." He said simply.

"Yes sir. Um, If I may?" the Aide coughed slightly.

"Yes?" Seifer's eyes narrowed.

"Well, sir, this little escapade isn't exactly going down well with the public. Your approval rating isn't exactly high, and the men are all getting fed up." The Aide informed him. "A lot of them are saying you only became president because you were the Sorceress' second-in-command."

"Which would make me, if she had had the title President, 'Vice-President' would it not? And if the President falls, then the Vice takes over, am I right?" Seifer hissed.

"Well, yes sir." The Aide admitted. "But have you perhaps thought about changing your tactics slightly to curry favour with the public? I mean, this search can always be resumed at a later date, and…"

"No it can't!" Seifer fumed. "This needs to be done as soon as is possible. If they don't like it, tough! But tell anyone who wants me out, to come and see me in person and say so!" He knew no-one would. Whilst he didn't have the presence of Edea, his fighting skills were certainly well known, and he had more than certainly staked his reputation for ruthlessness during his period as her knight.

"Yes sir." The Aide, like Wedge, merely turned and dismissed himself, leaving Seifer to his own equally bad mood.

The journey to the other end of the Centra continent had been made in half a day or so, but with no ideas as to the location of the ship, Squall had stationed troops at various points along the north coast to scout out the area and to report on sighting.

"Do you want me to make a trip out to sea to scout out the area?" Nida enquired.

"No." Replied Squall simply. "The sight of something this big may scare them off. Withdraw Garden to a point about 2 miles south of the coast. The troops will report if the White SeeD ship is sighted."

"Very well sir." Nida agreed and turned the Garden round.

And sure as Edea predicted, in less than 3 days, the White SeeD ship came sailing into the bay.

"So who's going aboard?" Xu asked Squall, who seemed to be the only one with sense left as all the others were feeling awestruck as to how Edea had managed to predict it all so accurately.

"Me for one." Squall made the immediate choice. "I don't suppose having Cid's officials would make much difference, so I'll go for those they've at least met. So that's you and Zell."

"Are we… walking or…?"

"Yes, we withdrew to avoid scaring them off. I trust Edea, and from what she said, I get the idea we'll have more than enough time.!

"Are you sure Squall? Doesn't it seem a bit, well, far fetched?"

But the look from all the other team told her she was on her own. Where as under Ultimecia, they'd all felt fear in her presence, without her influence, the group instantly felt the love and trust they'd found in their Matron.

The party of three quickly walked the 2 miles in less than an hour, but were unsure of how to approach the ship.

"It's docked, but there's no route onto the ship except by means of a smaller boat." Xu sighed.

"We don't have one." Squall simply stated. "How deep is that water?"

"Well, we can easily walk through it, but…" Xu started.

"Question answered!" Zell smiled cheerfully as he started to wade into the sea, quickly followed by Squall.

"But we'll be soaked!" Xu protested. "How good's it going to look for our dignity showing up drenched to the skin?"

"Well hey! It'll make us less threatening!" Zell turned round with the same grin on his face.

With no other reasonable response, Xu breathed in deep and followed the other pair.

The group had obviously not expected their wade through the water to be unnoticed by the ship and were not at all surprised to find a group of the White SeeDs awaiting on the deck as they approached.

"I believe we've met." The SeeD at the head of the group scanned the party in the water, instantly recognising them all from the encounter at Balamb.

"My name is Squall Leonheart. I am the commander of SeeD under appointment by Headmaster Cid Kramer!" Squall instantly went into his most official mode.

"State your business!" The White SeeD instantly responded in his own officiousness.

"I need to see Ellone." Squall cut to the point. "Edea told us you would be here." He followed with after seeing the surprised looks on their faces.

The White SeeDs instantly drew their weapons in guard. The group in the water merely raised their hands in surrender.

"We have no wish to fight." Squall informed them, indicating to the group to keep their arms raised. "We pose no threat! Edea is no longer under control of Ultimecia! She is once again our ally!"

The SeeDs showed no sign of withdrawal. In contrary, they heightened their guard.

"Hold your fire!" The SeeD at point shouted. He turned, once again addressing Squall and his team mates. "We have no reason to believe you. Unless you show us further proof, we will open fire, considering you to be a threat, unless you leave now."

Squall removed the letter from his jacket, making sure it had not got wet. "We are only us three!" He informed them. "We have no means by which to fight you. This letter was written by Edea herself."

The SeeD member nodded to the others, allowing Squall to come forward to present the letter. He still noted how all guns were trained on him however, and for a moment wished he'd chosen Irvine for a companion. But he was relieved to see his judgment had been correct when the SeeD at point smiled and raised his arm in a salute, which he instantly returned.

"Even our salute is the same!" Squall smiled at his counterpart.

"Edea told me it had not changed since SeeD began." the SeeD threw down the ladder and allowed the group to climb aboard.

"So then…?" Zell pushed the original question.

"I'm only second in command." The SeeD returned the letter to Squall. "Take this letter to our leader. He'll be up on the bridge. Don't worry, he trusts my decision; he won't turn you away. And good luck Commander, sir!" He threw a salute at Squall, who accepted it. It seemed as though Edea had put him forward as much as Cid. There seemed to be an underlying feeling to his appointment, but he opted to put it on the backburner until his mission was complete.

"Whoa! I never expected to see you again!"

"How have you been, sir?" Two other voices greeted him as he stepped on board.

"Hello again." Squall greeted them as civilly as he could.

"I can't believe you're here sir!" Watts was clearly ecstatic.

"You guys only just got out!" Zone nodded at them. "After you left; well it wasn't long until the Galbadians infiltrated us. Let's just say we had a harder ride out of Timber than you did!"

"We only just escaped to this boat, sir!" Watts agreed. "I was sure we were goners, sir! Zone just thought we could swim across the sea to escape. He was going nuts, sir!"

"More of a plan than you had!" Zone looked daggers at his friend. "You were just complaining we were going to die!"

"Guys!" Zell quickly jumped in! "Is it that important, really? Everyone survived, right?"

"Yeah, you're right!" Zone smiled. "I guess I got sidetracked, I forgot to ask how Rinoa is!"

At this point, Squall's face fell. "She fought with us against Sorceress Ultimecia. She seemed determined to help us. We won." He seemed carved inside as he watched Zone and Watts' faces light up. "But afterwards, she fell unconscious, and now we don't know what's wrong with her. I'm trying to find out, but for now… I'm sorry." he hung his head, at more of a loss for words than ever.

Zone's face turned red, however. "You SON OF A BITCH!" he roared. "You PROMISED you'd take care of her! You PROMISED! You PATHETIC, LYING, SCUMBAG!"

"Whoa! Easy!" Watts pulled in to intervene his friend. "Rinoa's not dead is she, sir? You just don't know what's wrong with her, right?"

"Right." Squall agreed. "That's why I need to see Ellone, so she can put me inside Rinoa and I can find out what's wrong with her. Then, maybe, we can cure her." He put on the bravest face he could; not wanting to let his friends hear his voice crack.

"See! She's fine! They just need the cure!" Watts comforted Zone. "Squall would never give up on her! Isn't that right, sir?"

"Correct." Squall looked Watts in the eye for once, then turned his attention to Zone. "I swear, Rinoa means a lot to me, and I SWEAR, I will make sure she's OK. All I need to know is where Ellone is. Tell me."

"Head up the stairs to the bridge." Zone informed him as he took his pills out. "My stomach…"

"Why didn't you tell him, sir?" Watts asked as the group ascended up the stairs.

"It's… not my job." Zone replied. "I'm not in charge here… Owwww, my stomach." He made his excuse and left.

"She's not here?" Zell was infuriated.

"Stay calm Zell!" Squall motioned for him to stay back. "You have no reason to hide her from us." he told the White Seed Leader. "Edea is back to her old self again. She's the kind Matron we remember."

"Squall, I thank you." The SeeD turned to him. "We owe you and Balamb Garden much. Unfortunately, I speak the truth." He hung his head. "You obviously remember we picked her up from your Garden by FH?" he continued as Squall nodded his head. "As you can imagine, it made a lot of sense to head away from Galbadia. They were west, so we headed east."

"But that would lead you to Esthar!" Zell realised. "Did you…"

"We ran into an Esthar fleet." The SeeD admitted. "It was about the same time a Galbadian fleet had found us and had tracked us. It was… quite strange. Obviously, the Esthar fleet fought the Galbadians, but…"

"There was an Esthar fleet out?" Zell looked puzzled.

"You're right." The SeeD read Zell's mind. "I think we must have been the first people to have seen Esthar folk, military or otherwise in 17 years, since the war ended!"

"So what happened?" Squall pressed home the question.

"Well, after the Esthar fleet allowed us to pass, the battle became intense. It soon became clear who was going to win. Galbadia didn't stand a chance against Esthar's technology."

"But why would Esthar even get involved?" Zell was still non the wiser. "They've avoided all forms of contact with the rest of the world since the end of the war."

"We thought the appearance of Esthar was a bad omen, I admit!" The SeeD nodded. "And then when an Esthar ship approached us, we were as cautious as ever."

"So what happened?" Xu jumped in on the inquisitive.

"Well, we trusted them just as much as the Galbadians." he told them. "They told us to get on their ship, but we obviously refused. But the thing is; as soon as they started drawing away, Ellone came out of nowhere and jumped onto their ship! To this day, I don't know why. But after that, Esthar's fleet withdrew as quickly as they'd arrived. After THAT, we were obviously at the mercy of, well, what was LEFT of the Galbadian fleet. They hit us with everything they had, which, I have to say, was less than everything we had combined. I guess they'd really been crippled by Esthar." He paused for breath. "Looking back, I realise we could have taken them, but at the time, standing up to a Galbadian fleet didn't even bear thinking about! We withdrew and came here to repair the minor damages that had been caused." He hung his head regretfully. "I'm sorry Squall, we couldn't protect her."

"So Ellone's in Esthar?" Squall got straight to the point.

"We believe so." The SeeD responded.

"Esthar? Squall, what does this mean?" Xu looked at him, opened mouthed.

"It means, we go back to Garden, and tell Nida we have a new destination!" Squall replied simply.


	32. A Forgotten Land

-132. A Forgotten Land

"Oh man! Xenophobic Esthar?" Nida shook his head at the news he'd been given.

"It's our next destination." Squall merely nodded at the question.

"I guess so, but which route do you want us to take?" Nida consulted the map of the world laid out on the table. The two major continents at opposite ends, Galbadia to the West, Esthar to the East. Icy Trabia in the North and desecrated Centra lying at the South. "We're still at Centra, so the quickest way would obviously be to just head Northeast to the continent. The main city of Esthar's meant to lie at the west of the continent. The only problem with that…"

"…Is that there's a chance of being caught in Galbadian and Esthar crossfire." Squall finished the sentence for him. "From what the White SeeDs were saying, it seems Esthar are patrolling the borders in the Central Sea at any rate."

"Right." agreed Nida. "Other options then. We try and approach over the Trabia mountains from the north. That's probably the most covert way, however it will take the longest as we'll have to sail all around the continent to the East of it. We can't go directly north through the central sea because of the old rail bridge that links Galbadia and Esthar."

"Well, why not use the rail bridge then?" asked Selphie. "We can even dock at FH, so we won't even have to go near Galbadia."

"Three reasons." Squall informed her. "Firstly, we'd still have to sail through the Central Sea and risk encountering Esthar or Galbadian fleets. Secondly, I think after the disruption we caused on our last visit, we probably outstayed our welcome there, even if we did throw a party to thank them. Thirdly, according to the people who lived there, no-one who sets out to find Esthar that way ever does. That track's never really been in use since the war, we don't even know if it leads to the city that way."

"But the city's supposed to be huge, like bigger than the entire island of Balamb, how do people not find it?" Zell was still puzzled by this one.

"I've no idea, but I think the rail bridge is a last resort." Squall shrugged.

"So if we can't approach from the South, West or North, that only leaves East then." Nida reasons. "And if we head to the East of the continent and find no way in, we can head north and try the Trabia mountains."

"Sounds like the best plan." Squall approved. "Let's try it."

To Squall's relief, the Garden didn't encounter any fleets, Galbadian or otherwise on the 3 day journey to the Esthar continent. He was less pleased, however with the sheer height of the cliffs that greeted them on their arrival, especially when Nida told him the Garden couldn't fly high enough to reach to the top of them.

"It's an old craft Squall." Nida told him. "They were only designed to be mobile, to get from one place to another. I don't think there was ever any need for them to engage such high altitudes. I also imagine they never expected to find cliffs that high either. I can continue along the coastline, see if they fall lower, make a beach or something."

"Try that then." Squall agreed.

For the rest of the day however, as they headed North along the coast, they encountered no sign of the cliffs losing height. The second day continued in much the same way, until in the early afternoon, Nida summoned Squall to the bridge.

"The cliffs aren't losing height, but they're heading inland." Nida pointed out to him on the coastline. "There's a beach about an hour ahead where we can make a docking, if you want to go ashore to investigate."

"Excellent. Call the others up to the bridge." Squall finally smiled.

An hour later, the team disembarked onto the beach ready to investigate the land. It wasn't quite as Nida had first thought, whilst one cliff was receding inland, there was another that jutted out and continued north along the coastline. The beach seemed merely a break in between them.

"But it does head inland between the two cliffs." Quistis pointed out. "And the land's on an incline, so it must reach the top of them somewhere. I imagine this was a river once, that's dried up or something."

"Well, let's head on in and see what we can find then." Selphie reasoned, and with that they headed off.

The walk was an easy uphill stroll through the valley for the first half hour, the land seemingly devoid of any monsters until they hit woodland covering the valley floor right up to the walls of the cliffs that loomed up either side of them. It was clear that these lands hadn't been travelled by humans in years, perhaps even centuries, as Zell mused, noting the absence of any human activity, including a route through the woods that very quickly turned into dense forest. The going got slower and slower until the vegetation got so thick, it was nearly impossible to navigate through it. Squall was still reluctant to head back, insisting that this could be the only way to Esthar. A further hour later, however and he too admitted defeat.

"It could take days to hack our way through this." He sighed inwardly as he looked up. "The cliffs seem just as high and just as steep." He sighed again, somewhat dejectedly.

"Well, maybe Nida can fly the Garden over the top of these trees." Selphie suggested. "They're quite tall, but it's got to be worth a shot right?"

Squall sighed for a third time. "I haven't got any better ideas." he admitted. "Failing that, it's Trabia I guess."

"The trees, I can handle." Nida surveyed the scene. "I'd have tried flying over them straight away, but there's no way I'll be able to land on them."

"Well, couldn't we lower ourselves down a ladder, or a rope, or something like that?" Selphie wasn't giving up either.

It was Squall's turn to speak. "No. The main engines and propellers are below to give us lift. It's ok to leave out the main entrance when the Garden's docked because they're not moving. If we tried mid-flight, we'd get sliced to pieces or blown miles off course due to the sheer thrust the engines produce."

"But the balconies and the quad…"

"I don't even know if a long enough rope exists!" Quistis stopped her before she could carry on.

"If it did, we certainly don't have one handy in Garden." Xu added.

"But maybe there's somewhere we could get out onto the cliffs if they get shallower. Either way, it's worth a try." Squall gave the order.

"Roger that!" Nida kicked the engines into life.

It was only after a few minutes of flying to realise just how little distance they'd actually made through the forest.

"Was that as far as we got before it got that thick?" Selphie was amazed. "It took us ages to get through.

"Don't forget how slow the going was." Quistis reminded her. "Compare that with how fast the Garden can fly…"

"Either way, it looks like we made the right choice to back off when we did." acknowledged Irvine. "We were NEVER going to get through there."

"Not with supplies to spare." Squall agreed grimly. What was more on his mind was that despite the hill climb, the cliffs seemed to be just as sheer and just as high. To make matters worse, the valley was getting narrower and narrower. In fact, it took less than half an hour for Nida to confirm what he feared.

"I'm sorry, Squall. We can't fly any further or we'll hit the cliffs. It's going to be hard enough to reverse out of this canyon as it is."

"Is there no other option?" Squall sighed again.

"Not in this canyon, I'm afraid." Nida shook his head.

"Don't despair just yet." Quistis comforted him. "This was only one beach. There may be others that we can get through. In any case, it's getting late now. We'll keep flying and try again tomorrow."

"Alright." Squall reluctantly agreed.

Unfortunately, the beaches they encountered the next day revealed the same problems. After the third attempt to get past the seemingly impassable cliffs, canyons and forests that the east coast of the continent seemed to throw at them, Quistis finally persuaded Squall to call it quits.

"I think we can see now why it was the west coast that was the port of call for access to Esthar." Quistis reasoned. "We're probably only going to waste time trying to pass these cliffs, it looks like they carry on right up to the Trabia mountains. Let's try there. At least we know from Laguna's dream world that there definitely is passage there, because they got through that way."

"Weren't there also dragons that way?" Zell was a little more hesitant about the idea.

"That a GF summon soon saw off." Irvine reminded him. "I was Ward at the time; I saw it."

"I think dragons are probably the least of our worries there." Squall agreed. "Some of the other things we've had to fight…"

"Um, that's all well and good guys, but I still need to know where this passage is to fly to. That's a very large mountain range up there." Nida reminded him.

"Trabia Garden's probably a good place to start. I know some of the routes into the mountains round that area." Selphie offered. "If we could find the film Sir Laguna was in, we could find out where it was shot as well."

"Right! Um, you're right." Zell perked up unexpectedly. "I'll go down to the library and see if I can find anything. Um, there's a book I wanted to check out anyway." And swiftly, he made his exit.

"What was that all of a sudden?" Quistis was taken aback.

"I've got a bit of an idea…" Irvine smiled to himself.

Squall was in a much better mood two days later when they were departing once more from Trabia Garden, this time with a much clearer plan of action. Zell had not only found the film, but where it was shot. And according to the SeeDs at Trabia, the valley was one they'd used for training expeditions before and was wide enough to be navigable by the Garden. They'd have to climb the canyon by themselves, but by then it should be no more than 3 days walk from Esthar. Quistis had gathered enough supplies for the journey and they were on their way.

"Yes it's just through this pass here." One of the Trabia SeeDs named Barin informed them as he was directing Nida. "If you go round this mountain here, there's a shallow incline which will take you up the mountain. You should be able to land at the top."

"Can we get down into the valley as well?" Squall enquired.

"It depends on the decline. If not, it should only add three hours walk maximum to the journey." Barin shrugged. "I don't know what the capabilities of this Garden are."

"Climbing's the hard part though." Selphie was puzzled. "Descent should be easy."

"Dropping isn't the problem." Agreed Nida. "It's making sure Garden's still in one piece after the drop that's the issue."

"Even if we can't fly down, like I say, it's not too hard going making it down the mountain by yourselves." Barin reassured them.

As they rounded the corner though, they gasped at the scene. Half the mountain was missing. A crater, instead, had taken it's place. Rock and debris lay strewn all around the mountains, forming an effective dead end.

"But… how…" Selphie was open mouthed.

"Stray missile." Squall sighed. "Nida…?"

"I'm sorry." Nida knew the question already. "The face of that mountain is way too steep to fly up now, I'm afraid."

"OK." Squall nodded. "Barin, how long will it take to walk over the pass?"

"Half of it doesn't exist anymore." Barin informed him quietly. "The parts that do, seem blocked by debris and landslides."

"Well are there..?"

"Any other navigable passes through to the canyon?" Barin finished the question. "No. Certainly none by Garden and none on foot that I know of. We may be able to find some, but I've no idea how long that will take?"

"Do you want me to start organising?" Xu asked just as quietly.

"No." Squall hung his head. "No." He shook his head slowly as if hating the decision he had to make. Then he lifted his head and spoke quietly, but firmly. "Xu, make sure Garden is on standby for defence if anyone spots any Galbadian or Esthar fleets. Nida, take us to FH and dock there." Before anyone could argue, he turned without a word and exited the bridge.

It was late evening by the time Garden pulled into FH. They had no problem docking, but there were a fleet of citizens, including Mayor Dobe waiting outside the entrance when Xu opened the balcony to request permission to remain. Squall was right in guessing they wouldn't be happy about it as Xu informed him when she found him in the infirmary, looking over Rinoa's comatose body.

"They don't want more violence here." She informed him. "Not in the city."

"They won't have any as long as they let us stay." Squall replied in his formed cold, curt manner. "If Mayor Dobe wishes discussion, tell him we're staying here tonight and leaving in the morning; he can concede the easy way, or the hard. Keep the doors shut and tell everyone in Garden to remain indoors. No-one may go into the city."

Xu merely nodded and made her exit and when she didn't return, Squall guessed they must have agreed to let them stay for the night. This was confirmed when Zell, Irvine, Quistis and Selphie came to see him.

"Well, they were reluctant, but as it was only for the night and everyone was remaining indoors, they conceded." Quistis informed him. "It's getting late anyway, so everyone's winding down. I, er, assume we're leaving tomorrow?"

Squall merely nodded.

"What time?" Zell wanted to know.

"Early." Is all Squall would offer.

"Well, we'll be on standby until we get the call tomorrow then." Quistis tactically acknowledged and ushered the group out of the infirmary.

"Tell Nida to withdraw Garden at dawn." Squall called after her. She turned around, nodded and left.

Squall waited another hour or so and checked his watch. It was after midnight. He sighed. "Sorry everyone. I can't go on like this." He looked down at Rinoa, sighed again and lifted her off the bed. "Come on Rinoa. Let's go meet Ellone. Ellone will bring us together." He pulled her onto his back, wrapped her arms around his chest and held her legs up under his arms. "It's a bit far… but we'll make it." He sort of smiled at her. Being how late it was, no-one saw him leave the infirmary or head towards the balcony. It was out of the way of the dorms and other social areas anyway. The balcony door may have been locked, but his key card easily granted him access through. The docks of FH were just as deserted, so no-one saw him leave town along the deserted old railway line. And as he did not look back either, he didn't see another ship, silently pull up to Garden in the dead of the night.

_It's pretty far_ Squall was acknowledging as he'd been walking for a couple of hours. _Didn't think it would be this far._ It gave the futility of the whole thing a chance to set in. "What am I doing?" He wondered out loud "Going to Esthar, going to meet Ellone. How do I even find her in the city, IF I find the city? Even if I do, there may be nothing that can be done." He reflected on this again, and the thought made him momentarily stop and set down Rinoa down on the track. He looked back along them. The lights of FH were only just visible on the horizon. Yet even now, the futility that would once have stopped him didn't sink in. _I sure have changed_ he reflected as he sat down and fell asleep.

He woke up to the sunrise, looked around, made sure Rinoa was still there, then he stood up. He looked back along the tracks again, and on the horizon, could just make out the silhouette of Garden pulling out of FH; away towards Balamb it seemed. "Sorry everybody." He apologised again. _I wonder what they're all doing? They're probably all laughing at me. Or maybe they're angry._ "What do you think?" he addressed the comatose body of Rinoa. "To tell you the truth, I worry too much about what others think of me." He sighed inwardly, reflected. He was never that good at expressing himself, except to Rinoa sometimes. He found it easier, even though she was unconscious. Maybe that made it easier? "I hate that side of me." He admitted to her. "That was another reason I never got close to people. I didn't want people to get to know me that well. 'Squall is an unfriendly, introverted guy.' It made it easier for me if people perceived me that way." He knelt down in front of her. "That's a secret between me and you." He lifted up her chin and looked into her face. "Got it?" and somehow felt that she agreed. He smiled. "Come on…" he picked her up, and set back off along the tracks.

It was nearly noon when he finally reached the end of the bridge and walked onto dry land. He surveyed the scene. The tracks ended neatly and abruptly at an old station which didn't look like it had seen visitors in years. Almost instantly, there was a climb into the mountains. He sighed again; he'd had enough of Esthar's mountains already he felt. He set off through the station, when he heard a voice.

"You're late Squall!"

He turned round, and to his astonishment saw Quistis standing on the platform outside what looked like an old waiting room.

"Is the princess still asleep?" Zell stepped out the doorway.

"She might wake up with a kiss from the prince." Quistis grinned.

"What… How…" Squall finally managed to get the words out. "Did you guys come all the way out here to tell me that?"

"No. We're on a mission." Zell informed him.

"To where?" Squall raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "I told Nida to pull away."

"I know, but we got a new contract after you left." Quistis agreed as a third figure emerged from the room.

"We're going to Esthar." Zell told him. "We're Edea's escorts."

"Hello Squall." Edea greeted him.

"Matron." Squall finally smiled and bowed his head.

"After you left, the White SeeD ship came to FH with Matron on board." Quistis filled in the blanks. "She said she had to go to Esthar and needed accompaniment We passed you along the way, but didn't have the heart to wake you."

"What business do you have in Esthar?" Squall was curious.

"I must go see Dr Odine." Edea informed him.

"You know the name?" Zell asked.

"I've heard the name Odine. The brand of magical goods?" Squall ventured.

"That's right." Zell nodded. "It was all his work. He's number one when it comes to knowledge about the Sorceresses."

"Sorceress Ultimecia is still out there." Edea spoke again. "And whilst we do not know what happened to Adel, or if someone else inherited her powers, I am still a target. She may try to possess me again. If that were to happen, I would once again bring terror. I… I don't want that to happen, I want to protect myself. If possible, I would like to be rid of the Sorceress power. Dr Odine may know a way."

"So since we all seem to be heading that way…" Quistis ventured.

"I understand." Squall nodded. "Let's all go to Esthar."

"We shall leave when the others get back." Edea said.

"The others?" Squall asked.

"Oh! Right on cue." Quistis pointed to the mountain track that Irvine and Selphie were running down.

"How's it going Squall?" Selphie greeted him. "Aw, Rinoa looks so cute when she's sleeping."

"Whatever." Squall didn't want to be reminded of Rinoa's state. "Can we get to Esthar?"

"Are you blushing?" Selphie grinned, oblivious to Squall's touched nerve.

"Selphie, that's enough." A more astute Irvine interjected. "We tried North and South, even from the top of the mountains, we couldn't see anything."

"But the city's meant to be huge!" Quistis protested.

Irvine flung his hands up in defence. "Hey, you've all heard about how no one seems to find it."

"I guess we just thought we'd be luckier." Squall spoke her thoughts. "Well, we'll try going East then."

Irvine agreed and led them up the mountain path again. "The paths go up north and south." He admitted. "The path East seems to go down. We tried going up, because we figured we'd get a vantage point. We didn't see anything that this path led to, but I guess it's as good a shot as any."

The large group headed down the path and rounded a corner. Stretched out in front of them was what appeared to be an enormous, seemingly endless lake, save for one feature: it was completely dried up. From the white deposits that had dried out and caked to the surrounding rock, it appeared that in it's time it had been very salty.

"This doesn't make sense." Zell observed. "Salt water doesn't dry up that easily, or the whole ocean would've been evaporated. It must have been so hot to create that."

"I don't see any sign of a city either." Selphie got to more important matters.

"Looks like we're in for a long journey." Edea agreed.

"Don't worry. We're with you all the way!" Zell wasn't put out.

"Thank you Zell." Edea didn't smile however. "But you must stay alert, even in my presence. There's nothing to be afraid of whilst I'm in control, but Ultimecia may choose to possess me again. If that happens…" She broke off and looked away "…You all know what to do."

None of the group knew what to say. They all looked away, or at their feet, not wanting to meet anyone's gaze. "Come on guys!" Selphie tried to cheer them up again. We're all together again! We're going to bring back Rinoa! It's all going to be fun!"

"Somebody once told me if you mention bad things, they'll come true." Squall replied. "I know it's just silly superstition, but right now, I find myself believing it, so I'd rather not talk about it."

"I'll tell you what's also funny." Irvine finally spoke. "Have you seen the horizon?"

They all looked to where he was pointing. In the distance, were flashes and sparks of light above the ground.

"Lightning?" Selphie ventured.

"Lightning comes from the sky." Zell shook his head.

"Machinery generates sparks." Selphie reminded him.

"And that's just it." Irvine nodded. "The lake carried on way past where it looks like the electric sparks are, but there's no sign of machinery, or human influence anywhere to be seen."

"It may be magic." Edea offered. "Remember Sorceress Adel lived out here. If she died, it's very likely that whoever inherited her powers lives, or lived out here as well."

Again, everyone fell silent, and once again, it was Selphie who broke it, though less cheerfully. "This lake's weird." She shook her head. "Come on, let's just go!"

"Let's" Squall agreed, shaking his head.

With that, they headed down into what must have once been the bed of the lake. Even Squall couldn't deny it was an eerie sight. Every rock, surface and bone was covered in salt so thick it appeared older than anything that could exist in such an environment. The bones. That was another thing that disturbed the group. Covered in salt as they were, there was no mistaking the skeletons that lay collapsed, or in some cases stood proud, around the bed of the lake. Even though most of them looked completely unrecognisable from any animal or monster that existed, it gave the group an uneasy feeling that something was watching.

"Guys…" Selphie appeared to have thought of something.

"What is it?" Squall turned to her.

"Well… There's clearly things that have been around in this lake. And from the skeletons that are lying around… I don't think they're probably as dead as we'd like to believe…"

"Undead creatures." Edea saw what she was on about. "Junction Fire and Cure spells if you have them, they'll be vulnerable to them."

"Creatures like that?" Zell gestured.

Lying in the middle of the path was the most bizarre creature most of the group had ever seen. Sticking out of the road, as though frozen in quicksand was a head that looked quite preserved in the salt that lay around everything. Two hands as well, were protruding from the ground. It was clear the group wouldn't be able to go past it unnoticed. This was made clearer when Quistis gingerly approached the site and the left hand pointed at her; an Ice spell quickly following, which she fortunately dodged.

"So it's Magical?" Selphie realised. "Let's see what I can figure out then!"

But before she could do anything, Edea had raised her arms. The creature appeared to be stretched out from the ground, yet with no more body following it. As the constraints grew more and more, the creature was visibly screaming in silent pain, until the head and hands were ripped from the ground and sucked up into a huge black hole the group noticed had materialised above them. As soon as the creature had disappeared into the hole, it contracted into nothing, as a huge bat-like creature flew away.

"Gravity magic. The GF Diablos." Edea explained to the stunned group who were watching, half afraid. "I was able to hide my Junctions from Ultimecia." But then her voice lowered to a whisper and she looked away from the group. "But I hope you all understand what…"

"We do." Squall broke in quickly, before she finished her sentence.

But it was enough to render the group silent again as they travelled. The journey was carried on for a further hour in silence; partly from the events that had just unfolded, partly from the eeriness of the surroundings; and also partly from the fact that whatever was giving the sky the static electricity effect was getting closer.

It was only broken, in fact, by the appearance of another monster, jumping out of a canyon the group were passing. This time the creature was completely skeletal, yet with faint muscle mass hanging from it's limbs, suggesting there was still a great deal of strength in the joints. It squatted in front of the group, in the middle of the track, gazing at them through soulless eyes, and between two enormous fangs that protruded from it's lower lip. Before anyone had the chance to draw a weapon it swiped through the crowd, sending Irvine and Quistis flying. Squall, still carrying Rinoa was forced to retreat to lay her down to a safe place. Zell meanwhile had taken point.

"Matron! Selphie! It's undead! Give me supporting magic and I'll distract it."

"It is alright Zell, there is no need." Edea tried to reassure him until she realised that this creature was immune to the gravity magic she tried to call.

"I'll try Fire!" Selphie jumped in, remembering the fight on the Timber Train. "If fire works, healing spells will work just as well."

She was pleased to see the fire spell work well against the beast as it reared back in pain, the tissue on it's chest already charred black, but less pleased to see that it was not the distraction Zell needed. The creature was still very much alert and aimed a backswipe at Zell to send him flying. Or would've done if it wasn't for Zell's skills. Whilst Zell was able to jump behind the swipe, it left him clinging to the back of the beast's claw, rendering Edea and Selphie unable to cast any magic towards it for fear of hurting Zell.

If that had been a problem for the group, the beast then withdrew slightly and rose up onto it's hind legs, towering at least 4 times as high as the group, with Zell still clinging to the right arm and all vulnerable parts completely out of reach from the physical fighters.

Edea was still with plans, however. "Selphie, do you have Cure spells?"

"Yes Matron, but what will that achieve?"

"I witnessed the fight on the Timber Train. Repeat tactics." She issued coldly, before sending a burst of huge fire blasts to the creatures knees.

"Firaga!" Selphie breathed, impressed even now at her Matron casting the most powerful fire-based spell in existence. Without hesitating however, she cast Cure on the knees and watched as the creature's legs disintegrated beneath it. The torso crashed to the ground; Selphie believed Zell would've been crushed had he not leapt of the arm at the last minute, rolling along his arm, sweeping his back leg in behind him and spinning into a standing stance as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Just training!" Zell grinned at the others.

But even Zell wasn't the one to worry as Squall leapt through the crowd, burying his gunblade in between the creature's eyes and pulling the trigger.

"Wake Irvine and Quistis up and let's go." Was all he would say.

It was all the group needed however to regroup and continue. What was worst was when the road reached a dead end in the form of a sheer drop of a cliff. Shrugging, Squall ordered Zell and Selphie to search the left and right sides. However, they both returned reporting dead ends either way.

"We'll have to retrace our steps. I'm sorry Squall." Selphie informed.

"This was the only route though." Edea spoke quietly. "There was nothing else to follow. We can only go back to the station."

"So this is why no-one finds Esthar, is it?" Squall muttered darkly. He breathed heavily for no more than two breaths before he finally erupted and screamed at the top of his lungs, surprising everyone watching.

"Squall…" Edea began.

"I can't take this anymore!" He broke down. "The only place we can go is the only place we can't reach! I'm out of ideas, plans and everything else I'm meant to be sorting! I don't care! Let someone else sort this all out!"

In his rage, he knelt down and picked up a salt-encrusted rock and hurled it off the edge of the cliff.

Or would've done had the rock not met a thud and bounced off an invisible barrier at the edge of the cliff-face. At that point, the landscape ahead of them seemed to flicker and the group realised that the static effect was now right above them.

"There's something here!" breathed Zell.

More cautiously, Squall stuck his gunblade out into the air above the chasm only to fine the air resisting quite heavily. As if that weren't enough, the landscaped flickered and crackled with static even more. To add to matters, a large black hole opened in the air above the chasm.

Unperturbed, Squall felt the air below it, and felt solid steps jutting out below it in front of the landscape. "Everyone!" He turned to face his friends. "Whatever's beyond here, it's clear the Salt Lake ends! The landscape ahead is some kind of illusion."

"And there's a tunnel there!" Zell pointed out the obvious, at the hole in the sky.

"In the sky?" Selphie breathed?

"It's not the sky, it's some sort of wall, made to look like the lake is carrying on forever." Squall told her. "I don't know for sure, but I think it's the only place we can carry on to. I'm going, anyway. If you want to follow, you can."

And with that, he climbed up the invisible ladder into the hole, carrying Rinoa with him. Zell shrugged, and then followed, as did the rest, carrying a slightly dazed Irvine and Quistis with them.

Inside the tunnel, the entire group were surprised to see it large enough for them all to walk through fully upright. The lights however, seemed to direct people in the tunnel the opposite way. "Reminds me of an emergency exit." Quistis remarked.

"Stay alert!" was all Squall would offer. This seemed to prove more astute as the group walked out of the tunnel onto a platform. The door behind them snapped shut and the floor began moving at an immense speed Squall didn't think was possible, yet surprisingly, some force sheltered the group from being windswept off. It appeared like an elevator, but far more advanced than anything he'd ever encountered. It pulled to a stop at the edge of another platform set before a larger tunnel.

"Everyone, listen up!" He announced. "Judging from their technology, they must know we're here! I want everyone to remain to calm and…"

He was cut off in surprise as he saw Zell collapse to the floor, followed immediately by Quistis. There was then, an all too familiar ringing in his own ears…

_Oh no… Not now…_


	33. Ellone's Salvation

-1Ellone's Salvation

"You! The skinny one and the fat one! Get your asses to down to Lunatic Pandora!" A Security Guard gestured towards Kiros and Ward, who silently shuffled off towards the lift. Laguna made to follow them, but the guard blocked his path. "Not you!" He shook is head. "You're going to stay here and work!"

Laguna sighed as he watched his friends disappear down the lift shaft leaving without company except for the humourless security guard and a Moomba which was typically avoiding anyone's gaze. Feeling wretched, he reached down to the toolbox, picked up a spanner and continued painstakingly tightening bolts for the handrail they were constructing for the walkways around the Crystal Pillar. Laguna snorted as he reflected on the irony of the situation. Laguna had returned from his acting job to Winhill only to find a distraught Raine waiting. Esthar soldiers had attacked whilst he was away and kidnapped Ellone. Cursing himself for leaving them unprotected, he'd swiftly headed back to the canyon where they'd found their way into Esthar before, Kiros and Ward in hot pursuit.

He'd had no real plan; just a drive to get back into Esthar and haul Ellone out. As a result, they were captured before they'd got very far, and as prisoners, been put to work in the Crystal Pillar.

The Crystal Pillar. The instant they stepped inside it, the three of them recognised the place they'd explored in Centra before their (literal) fall from grace, courtesy of Esthar soldiers. Of course, had that not have happened, he'd never have met Raine and Ellone, never fell in love with them, never have left to find Ellone and never been stuck back at the place where it had all started. It had now been two weeks and Laguna, normally the optimist, was starting to lose hope of even seeing the surface again, let alone Raine and Ellone and he silently wondered if it was any kind of sick joke that the thing that had given him so much happiness was taking it away from him again. He looked around again. It wouldn't surprise him, he decided. The pillar was creepy enough first time they found it, and the fact that it was being more mechanised than it was before didn't help matters much. The door to the lift opened again and Laguna's spirit briefly lifted, believing his friends were at least coming back, but it was another man he'd never seen before.

"You get to work over there!" the guard gestured towards another part of the room they were in, and silently, the new arrival went over to his allotted area, briefly catching Laguna's eye.

"Hi!" Laguna, in spite of himself, smiled at his fellow prisoner.

"You! No talking!" the guard swiftly reprimanded him.

Silently growling, Laguna knelt back down and carried on with his work. His stomach, audibly growled back. "I'm hungry…" Laguna realised, to his mistake, out loud.

"You! I said no talking!" The guard jumped in again, before snorting at Laguna in disgust. "It's only been three days you wimp! When I was young, I worked all day, all night… without sleep…"

Laguna swiftly tuned out and carried on with his work silently. Anything was better than having to listen to some old fart rambling on about how the youth of today had it easy, he decided. His thoughts were interrupted half an hour later by a bell chime he recognised, which lifted his spirits again.

"All right! Meal time!" He leapt to his feet.

The guard was quick, however to dash his hopes once more. "You! Keep working!" He smirked. "That's what you get for your big mouth! No food until your job's done! Same for you two!" he gestured towards the moomba, and the other prisoner, still sat down screwing bolts in.

Laguna's mouth dropped open. "You can't be serious! We'll be done in a couple of hours, but him…" he gestured towards the moomba. "His job won't be finished for days!"

The guard merely shrugged. "Then he won't get fed for a few days. If he wants to eat, he should work faster!"

Before Laguna could respond to that, the elevator door opened again and another security guard entered, tapping the first one on the shoulder.

"Hey, can you come and give me a hand?" He inquired. "I can't handle this big guy alone."

"Sure." The first agreed before turning to Laguna and the others. "Don't try anything stupid whilst I'm gone!" He gestured upwards. "The camera's still watching you!" With that, he entered the lift and was gone.

"_Heh, at least Ward__'__s giving something to think about_", Laguna grinned inside. Sighing with relief, Laguna dropped his tools. The camera may have been watching them, but at least it couldn't shout back at them for not working. He needed a breather at any rate while away from the heartless guard. Recalling his words, Laguna looked over at the moomba, looking ever wretched, relentlessly working away at his task. Pitying it, he went over and touched it on the shoulder. The moomba looked round, startled.

"Hey, you all right?" Laguna spoke softly to it, seeing the fear in it's eyes. "He says you won't get fed for a while. Are they not feeding you right?" The creature's eyes softened. "You relaxing a little?" Laguna continued. "What's wrong, you have a fever, or are you just scared of heights?" Laguna looked down at the massive drop beneath the walkway they were securing.

The moomba seemed to finally relaxed. "Grr… Grr…" It purred softly, hopping up and down lightly.

"You OK? Your stomach's going grr?" Laguna ventured.

"Ha, that's funny!" Laguna looked round at his fellow prisoner who'd just broken his silence. "I think that thing's growling means he likes you!" He stood up, and walked towards the pair. "You know what?" He appeared to think out loud. "You're the first one to care about his well-being. These Moombas get worked to death for no reason. They only get half the food and sleep compared to us humans."

Laguna turned towards the moomba once more. "That's horrible!" he stroked it's mane. "You need to get out of here. WE need to get out of here. How about it then? We get on out of here and then I'll feed you all the food you want! You can nap all you want as well! How does that sound?" He flashed a smile at the moomba which responded by jumping up and down, growling with delight, but then looked forlorn as it looked around searching for something. Laguna guessed what it was after. "Oh, but you still need to finish your job at the moment, I see. What are you looking for? Do you need a tool?" The moomba nodded. Laguna went to the toolkit and held up a few tools, until the moomba nodded at the one he drew. "Here! Catch!" He threw it at his new friend who jumped to catch it, and in doing so fell backwards off the ledge, narrowly catching it. "Whoa!" Laguna hurried over and pulled it back onto the ledge, relieved to see that it was ok. "Geez, I'm glad you're ok! I'm so, SO glad!"

"Ha!" Laguna turned towards the other prisoner again. "You seem, well, such a nice guy!" he responded, seeing Laguna's guarded expression, he extended his hand. "My names Amis! I'm pleased to meet you!"

Seeing that they were on familiar terms, Laguna accepted the man's handshake, but they were interrupted by a loud explosion and shake from above, followed by a man's voice shouting.

"Agh! Again, dis experiment iz a failure. Vy do I even bother?"

"Don't worry about it." Amis waved his hand. "Doctor Odine's just upset about something upstairs. Anyway, I was just saying that there's not many guys like you around these days. You seem to be in the same situation as us, right?"

"Like us?" Laguna was puzzled.

Amis dropped his voice, conspiratorially, aware of the camera in the room. "You're not here by choice, are you? Not working on Lunatic Pandora of your own free will?"

"Lunatic Pandora?" Laguna was none the wiser.

"Lunatic Pandora. This!" Amis gestured around the room. "It's the name of the… machine… thing! This thing that we're building around the Crystal Pillar. I'm guessing from what you were saying that you're not employed here, somehow."

"Well, no, I'm just a prisoner." Laguna admitted. "I kinda guessed you were as well."

"Right." Amis nodded. "I somehow think 'Slave' would be a better term. You too, judging from how you talked to him." He gestured towards the moomba and Laguna nodded. "So." Amis pressed his point. "Would you be interested in helping us out of this mess?"

"You're REALLY, going to have to explain now!" Laguna was at a loss. "I arrived in Esthar about 2 weeks ago, and this is all I've seen of it. The only thing I know is that it's ruled by Sorceress Adel and at war with the rest of the world!"

Amis nodded again. "And I'm guessing the world at large aren't happy with that?"

"Not at all!" Laguna agreed, getting more agitated. "Does she even know how much pain she's causing? And, and…"

"She does, she doesn't care!" Amis cut in. "But there are many in Esthar who DO. There are many in Esthar who are dissatisfied with the way Adel is ruling Esthar. The Anti-Adel movement is quite large, but we still have to remain underground, for our own safety, but our aim is to topple Adel from power. The main problem is going up against a powerful Sorceress. How do we even fight her?"

"Well, what does your leader have to say?" Laguna inquired.

"That's the other problem." Amis admitted. "We've got a lot of specialists researching this, that and the other, but no one to really rally it all together and get the plans together. Even so, would you…"

Amis' words were cut short by the dual sound of the alarm and the elevator rising, bringing the security guard up, along with Kiros and Ward. Ward was baring down silently on the guard, whilst Kiros was trying to even the field.

"Ward can't talk, but he's saying he's not going to put up with this!" Kiros announced, trying to explain. "We never came here looking for trouble, so he doesn't see why we should be being treated like this."

"You're prisoners!" the guard was quavering by this point. "You will do whatever Sorceress Adel orders!"

"We've spent all our military years fighting Adel. We're not going to obey her now. Says Ward." Kiros interpreted.

The other lift came down and the guard looked relieved as two Esthar soldiers emerged, baring down on Kiros and Ward.

"It doesn't matter. This is the end of the road, desist or we open fire!" The first soldier intoned, before Laguna smashed him around the head with the spanner he was working with, knocking him instantly unconscious. The second guard turned on him, foolishly turning his back on Ward, who lifted him up effortlessly with one hand, and wrapped the other around the soldier's throat and narrowed his eyes.

"Ward says, drop your weapons!" Kiros told him; a lot more cheerfully this time. The soldier realised his position and quickly complied.

"Now down!" Laguna gestured towards the 'down' elevator. The guard weighed up his chances and ran. "And I believe that elevator's still open!" Laguna gestured to the one the reinforcements had arrived in.

"Let's go, it's our chance!" Amis ran towards it, with Laguna's trio and the moomba in hot pursuit.

The lift ascended into a scientific control lab, decorated with computers and machines, and, the group noticed with main interest, a door which led outside. They didn't have time to ponder how to get to it, however, before a troop of Esthar soldiers came baring down on the lift. Quickly and instinctively, the group ducked behind a bank of computers and watched the soldiers descend in the lift down the shaft they'd just emerged from, then breathed a sigh of relief as the imminent danger seemed to be over. Fully taking in their surroundings, they looked around the room. There were only two other occupants. One was a short, bald man, dressed in a suit and lab coat. At least, by Esthar fashions, it appeared to be a suit and lab coat. Esthar officials seemed very fond of robes, it appeared to Laguna, all these grand purple and red ones, covered by the protective purple one, sturdy overcoat suggested these were more purposeful than the usual ones, especially the standard white ones the other figure wore. This was confirmed by the muttering of the first figure, whose voice Laguna recognised as that of Doctor Odine, who he'd heard from the floor below.

"That vould not work either!" he seemed to be ranting.

"If I may be so bold…" His assistant cut in. "To use this Lunatic Pandora to control the pillar would require an enormous amount of power and technology. Surely we have to be patient?"

"Maybe, maybe." Doctor Odine shrugged the notion aside.

"We could do with more money." His aide sighed. "The Crystal Pillar is related to the moon and the Lunar Cry, after all. And the space base was built to observe the moon anyway. Why couldn't some of that money have been given to this lab?"

"Zat is the vay it is!" Odine shrugged again. "But these brainwaves…" he seemed preoccupied.

His assistant seemed uncomfortable with Odine's final remark. "Sir…" he interjected. "I hear little girls are being abducted for the research."

Odine appeared not to even hear him.

His assistant looked more uncomfortable. "I have a daughter myself." he admitted. "It disturbs me to hear these stories. How do you think the parents must feel?"

"They should be pleased to help ze research!" Odine snapped, without looking up from his work. "Zat is all that matters!"

"Their backs are turned!" Kiros hissed in Laguna's ear.

"Yeah, let's break for it!" Laguna agreed. As quickly as they dared, the group tiptoed across the floor, behind the backs of Doctor Odine and his assistant to the door, at which point, they fled out along the path, into the great outdoors. They all gathered together, apart from the moomba, who ran off in joy.

"Take care! Don't get caught again!" Laguna waved after it. "Damn it!" he realised afterwards. Ward raised an eyebrow, but even Laguna could read this one."I promised him a meal and a nap when we escaped. Ah well, I guess he's better running free." He watched his furry friend disappear into the distance, then turned to his friends, when he saw Doctor Odine's assistant emerge from the building and start walking towards them.

"It's ok!" Amis smiled. "He's an Adel Resistance member as well. Name's Roeven. All the best info about the lab comes from him."

"And are you new members?" Roeven held his hands towards Laguna's trio. "Welcome aboard. You certainly made a lot of noise down there! I diverted the alarms for you though, don't worry! The lab's in a bit of turmoil as it is."

"WHOA!" Laguna interjected. "What's going on here? We're not members of anything! We've just escaped and want to know what's going on and where to go next!"

"Let's start with what you were saying." Amis turned to Roeven. "What happened. Did Adel cut funding?"

"No, it's just Doctor Odine." Roeven sighed. "He found a small toy he prefers over a big one like Lunatic Pandora. Some child named Ellone."

This was all the information to tune the group back in. "Wait! Ellone!" Laguna called out surprised.

"You know her?" Roeven replied, equally surprised.

"Know her?" Kiros interjected. "She's the only reason we're here!"

"Where is she?" Laguna cut to the core.

"Well, I guess Doctor Odine would be the one to know that one." Roeven answered vaguely.

"Right, let's go then!" Laguna gestured towards the lab to his friends.

"Are you crazy?" Amis grabbed him before he could move anywhere. "We just escaped, you want to get captured again.

"I just want to save Ellone!" Laguna shook him off.

"And you think you'll do that if you get imprisoned again?" Amis squared up to him, at which Laguna had to silently concede. "Look, I didn't get the chance to finish before. Would you be interested in joining us?"

"Joining what?" Laguna wasn't concentrating.

"The Adel Resistance." Amis reminded him. "To rescue Ellone, you'll have to get past Adel, by the sounds of things. In different ways, we're looking to fight Adel. You need help to rescue Ellone, and we'd take any help to remove Adel from power."

"It makes sense." Kiros nodded. "We know nothing about Esthar, we could use some inside info. Getting rid of Adel would be a good idea as well. Apart from the war, what's the point of rescuing Ellone if she's still a target? For different reasons, I guess we're after the same goal."

"You're right." Laguna nodded, then turned to Amis and Roeven. "OK. We'll accept your help. In return, we'll help your Anti-Azel movement, or whatever."

"It's ADEL! Start listening, because it's getting embarrassing!" Kiros sighed, gesturing to Ward. "Is what Ward would say. Can't you see it in his eyes?"

"Not as good as you!" Laguna grinned to his friend.

"But, I'm glad to have you on board!" Amis patted his new friend on the back. "Maybe you could even be the leader we're looking for!"

"Whatever." Laguna brushed that one aside. "First priority, Ellone!"

And with that, he headed back into the facility.

"Let's follow him." Kiros sighed as the rest followed him.

Doctor Odine was still pre-occupied by his computers; until Laguna tapped him on the shoulder.

"Where's Ellone?" he pressed, before Odine even had chance to be surprised.

"Vat are you talking about?" Odine stared back. "I don't know any Ellone!"

Laguna stood at least two heads higher than Odine and had no problems picking him up by his throat and pinning him against the wall.

"OK! OK!" Odine croaked between breaths. "I know Ellone!"

"Where is she?" Laguna pressed his face into the scientist's.

"In O-Lab!" Odine squealed.

"O-Lab?" Lagune turned towards Roeven. But in that instant, he loosened his grip, which enabled Odine to slip through and run to the door.

"Shit! Where?" Laguna pressed Roeven harder.

"In his main lab!" Roeven answered, slightly perturbed. "I know where! I'll take you!"

The group exited the lab to see Odine climbing into a car and disappearing. Roeven quickly flagged down a taxi, however, which the group climbed inside. The fact it had no wheels and merely hovered barely registered to Laguna as Roeven ordered the taxi down towards Odine's main laboratory.

Before Roeven even had the chance to thank the driver, Laguna had leapt out of the taxi and ran into the facility.

"C'mon, help me here!" Kiros beckoned towards the remaining trio.

Even though Laguna was the first to enter, Odine was taken aback by his presence alone.

"WHERE IS SHE!!" Laguna bellowed, making it harder for the poor scientist to resist. In fear, he merely gestured towards a window at the end of the laboratory. Laguna looked through it and saw what looked like a prison disguised as a child's playroom with Ellone sitting in the middle, too scared to touch the toys around her. "Take me down to her!" Laguna ordered coldly.

Before Odine could argue, the rest of the crew arrived.

"Well…" Odine began.

"Do it Odine!" Roeven ordered. Shocked by his assistant's words, he quickly obeyed, allowing Laguna into the liftshaft.

"Vat is happening?" Odine finally demanded.

"What are you doing with Ellone?" Kiros put forward the main question.

"Adel vants her power." Odine informed them.

Kiros saw a flicker in the man's face. "And you don't agree with that, do you?"

"She is a fool!" Odine burst out! "Her power is unique. Why vaste her as a host body? There are zo many fascinating things to explore, but Adel cannot be bothered to give her time!"

"She cut your funding boss?" Roeven grinned.

"She is a fool!" Odine fully exploded again. "How can she expect Esthar to continue zis way!"

"You think something must be done…" Amis stroked his chin.

All this faded into the background however, as Laguna entered the cell and scooped the waiting child up in his arms.

"See Elle! I said I'd be there!" Laguna hugged her close.

"Uncle Laguna!" Ellone shrieked with joy as she fully accepted his embrace.


	34. Esthar

-134. Esthar

Squall picked himself back up off the floor as the dream world ended again, and was relieved to see that the group was intact and nothing had happened in the meantime.

"You're just in time!" Edea remarked to the group. "It sounds like something's coming."

The group turned towards the tunnel as the sounds of an engine got louder. Presently enough, two cars emerged from the tunnel and pulled to a halt in front of the group. A figure dressed in the official-looking white and blue robes they'd just seen in Laguna's world stepped out of each car. One left the door open and stood behind, the other approached them.

"Welcome to Esthar." He greeted them amiably, but from the tone of his voice, he also sounded like he was exercising caution, especially as he regarded the most recently notorious member of the group. "Sorceress Edea, I believe?"

"Yes, that's right." Edea extended her hand towards the aide in an attempt to show she was on a peaceful errand. The aide accepted it, but didn't remove his gaze from her. He seemed to be examining her face for any slight hint of a threat. "I've come to see Doctor Odine."

"Please explain what this is regarding." The aide didn't drop his guard at this news.

"Yes, of course." Edea began.

"I want to see Ellone! Where is she?" Squall cut in.

"Ellone?" The aide looked even more shocked. The second man pressed a button and the opposite door on his car opened as he ducked down into the vehicle. It became apparent that the other car was to be a getaway in case of danger.

"There's no threat! She's my sister!" Squall interjected.

"Squall please. Let me handle this." Edea tried to calm him down.

The aide finally released his gaze from the group and looked back towards his companion in the other car. They held their gaze for a few seconds as if they were telepathically trying to reach a decision. Finally the aide looked back towards the group. "I think you'd better come with us." He started walking back towards the car. Edea sat in the front alongside him whilst Squall hauled Rinoa alongside him in the back. Irvine, Zell and Quistis all piled into the other car.

"Um, 'scuse me. Where are we going?" Selphie asked before she got in.

"To the Presidential Palace." The aide replied. "If you want to see Doctor Odine… Well, let's start there anyway. Please, if you'd come along."

Edea nodded at Selphie who climbed into the vacant seat Irvine had left for her.

With that, the cars started their engines and set off back through the tunnel they'd emerged from.

If they'd thought Esthar had looked impressive from what they'd seen in Laguna's dream world, the group's jaws all hung open as they emerged from the tunnel to behold the city in all it's glory. Huge towers, higher than any building they'd ever seen before loomed up everywhere they looked. Not only were the buildings so high, but it seemed the entire city was built to accommodate the enormity of it all. The roads and pavements were built high on pillars around the buildings as well. All round them, floating platforms whisked people to and fro between different areas of the city as they went about their lives. In their car, Zell whistled slowly in admiration, Selphie's eyes bulged as she stared out of the window, her face pressed against the glass, Irvine was nodding his head, impressed; even Quistis, normally so confident and assured was quite happy to look out of her depth this time. The occupants of the other car were more subdued however; despite the display of impressive technology around them, both Squall and Edea were silently worrying about what would happen if the city couldn't give them the answers they were looking for.

Presently, they pulled up outside the largest building of all, seemingly as wide as it was tall; at least the main part. Even higher above that, a large dome decorated the top, towering high above and overlooking the entire city stretched out beneath it.

"Whoa!" was all Zell could manage for once.

"Man, Esthar's President must be a real hotshot!" Irvine breathed in agreement.

"Please, follow me." The aide ushered them inside. None of the group spoke as they were led down the corridor, just looked around in awe at their surroundings. The view over Esthar as they boarded a lift to carry them towards the top of the palace was unlike anything they'd ever seen before. The previous descriptions they'd heard and the view from Trabia canyon that they'd seen in Laguna's dream didn't even seem to do half the justice of the city below them that stretched away in all directions. Even the mountains where they'd come down through the salt lake was only just visible near the horizon. Despite the distance, the group could now just about make out a wall built across it.

"What an incredible city!" Even Squall was awestruck. For the aide of course, it was all too familiar, and took no notice as he ushered them into the bottom of the dome, business as usual.

Despite the futuristic décor all around, with a desk in the middle attended by a young woman (still in the robes that seemed to be Esthar fashion), a long bench on each side of the wall before it and a set of doors after it, the room that they were subsequently led into was clearly a reception. The group sat down on the bench on one side as Squall laid Rinoa down on the other as they waited for whatever was going to happen next; it seemed this was the only thing they could call familiar in this city.

The aide went to the receptionist and spoke quietly to her, just out of the audible range of the others. She nodded her head in return and cast a smile towards the group. "I'll be taking my leave then." The aide spoke up this time and turned to the group. "Please, wait here. Someone will be with you shortly."

"Thank you for your help." Edea remembered herself as the rest of the group merely nodded or waved goodbye.

"How long's not long?" Zell made a face. He didn't like waiting around.

"Not long at all!" Came a familiar voice from behind one of the doors that opened and for the first time, with the exception of Ellone, the group all beheld a character they'd seen from the dream world with their own eyes as Amis strode into the room. Without saying a word, the group all seemed to decide to remain silent on this fact however; none of them knew quite how to greet a man they'd only seen in the past through someone else's eyes. "So then. You're the first visitors we've had in Esthar for quite some time now."

"This whole city's camouflaged?" Quistis inquired.

"The border is a set of tessellating hexagonal ultra high-resolution screens." Amis replied. "They all show an extension of the territory around the city. Our main security feature."

"Security? From what? What do you guys have to be frightened of?" Zell was stunned. "You can take anyone, just look around this place! You've…"

"Do you want another war?" Amis abruptly cut in. "We certainly don't! As for what we protect against, well." He turned as his aide had done at the border. "Sorceress Edea, I believe?"

"I have not come as a threat." Edea stood up. "Despite what you may believe, I am not the one who inherited Sorceress Adel's powers…"

"I know." Amis cut in again, this time surprising all the group. "We made sure of that a long time ago. But despite the fact that we now try and stay out of the affairs of the rest of the world, we are not unaware of the events that have been occurring in Galbadia recently."

"I know how it must appear" Edea began again. "But those were not my actions. Despite how it may sound, I was not in control of my body. I was at the control of another Sorceress…"

"We are familiar with Sorceress Ultimecia as well." Amis cut in for a third time, this time completely stunning the group.

"How…" began Selphie.

"We have been looking after Ellone, remember?" Amis reminded them. "And despite the fact you are no longer under her control, the fact you remain a target, I have to admit, is of great concern to us. We didn't remove Adel from power to be terrorised by a more powerful Sorceress."

"That is the very reason for my visit!" Edea exclaimed, having found a way to get to the point. "I seek Doctor Odine's help. I wish my Sorceress's powers to be removed. I wish to be free of Sorceress Ultimecia's control forever!"

"Well…" Amis began, but it was his turn to be interrupted.

"Zat vill be easy!" Again, the aged, but familiar figure of Doctor Odine strolled into the room, scarcely acknowledging the group. "We just exorcise the Sorceress! There iz nothing Odine can't do!"

"Well, if that's ok…" Amis shrugged. "I guess that's that one taken care of. So then." he turned his attention to Squall. "You wish to see Ellone?"

"Where is she?" Squall leapt to his feet. "I have to bring Rinoa to her. I need to see her now."

"It's not quite that easy." Amis started to explain.

"I don't care! Just let me see her!"

Both Amis and Odine looked silently at Squall for a couple of seconds, then Odine merely shrugged. "Do as he says. I give ze permission."

Amis' mouth hung open slightly, for the second time, seemingly at a loss. "…Very well." he conceded.

"But there iz one condition!" Odine strode over to where Rinoa was lying comatose on the other bench. "You will allow me to observe zis girl!"

"Well?" Amis turned to Squall. "We would need time to prepare to take you to Ellone. So, you will leave the girl with us until then?"

"They may be able to find out a way to help her!" Selphie offered.

"Accept the offer Squall!" It was about the closest to an order Squall had heard from Edea in his life.

"You'd better not do anything to hurt her!" Squall reluctantly agreed.

"There's nothing to worry about." Amis reassured him. "Why don't you go and take a look at the city and come back tomorrow morning. We should be all ready to go then."

"Ready for what? What's so complicated?" Squall was perplexed.

Amis finally smiled. "You'll see tomorrow. I'll send someone to take you to a hotel. We'll even pay for it. How does that sound?"

With nothing else to say, the group merely nodded.

"I still don't get why it should be so complicated!" Squall argued as the group strode down the hall to where there were taxis waiting for them at the exit to the palace.

"Look around you man!" Zell gestured around. "I can't see anything simple about this place! Even the cars float above the roads, which just happen to be blue! Well, I can't wait to see this hotel at any rate!" he grinned broadly.

Squall did not share the excitement. "But surely it's just a case of A to B?"

"It's a big city, Squall." Quistis reasoned. "She could be the other side of it for all we know."

"And we don't even know how big the city is." Irvine nodded in agreement.

"Plus, with the threat of Ultimecia out there, wherever she is, I'm sure the security won't be light." Edea added. "I put her on the White SeeD ship purely to make it very hard for anyone to find, or get to her. I'm sure whoever's in charge here has done the same, especially if they know about the recent events."

"Matron's right Squall." Quistis agreed. "I think you should probably be a bit more concerned if we were able to walk right to her by just looking her up in the phone book."

"If they even use something as primitive as books here." Zell raised an eyebrow.

"The Kramer party, I presume?" the first taxi driver interrupted them.

"That's correct." Edea nodded.

"Do you have any bags or luggage?"

"No. We were just told reservations had been made in the hotel?"

The driver nodded. "We've been instructed by the palace to take you to the Hyne Hotel. It's one of the finest in Esthar. I'm sure you'll find it adequate."

Biggs was not a happy man. Life on board this ship was getting more mind-numbingly tedious and repetitive by the day and he wasn't sure just how much more he could take. The men he was in charge of were clearly feeling the same as well; maintaining order was getting harder and harder by the day. Every time he thought about how much power he'd had and lost over the last month, he got twice as angry.

For the third night in a row now, he'd retired to his quarters in the foulest of moods, taking it out on the crew as he left and now, just as he'd finally fallen asleep, someone was shaking him to wake him up. He roared up ready to give the man hell.

"I'm so sorry Lieutenant Biggs!" Wedge retreated, knowing his superior's foul moods. "You know I wouldn't wake you like this unless it was important!"

Biggs hesitated. This, he conceded, was true. The little shit had at least learned when to make himself scarce. "What is it?" he finally enquired.

"Sir, you really have to come and see this!" Wedge gestured towards the door. "It's the readings, sir, we've never seen anything like them."

"I'll be on the bridge in a minute. Let me get dressed." Biggs grumbled.

"He wasn't wrong either!" Irvine gasped as he looked around the reception as Edea was checking in with the aid of the escort they'd been given. "And I thought we got pampered in Deling City!"

"Special SeeD privileges, eh Zell?" Selphie gave him a wink to the shock of Irvine.

"H-Hey, what's that meant to mean?" he stammered.

"You thought the hotel was good? I was impressed by our own carriage on the train on our first mission!" Zell scratched the back of his head awkwardly, then grinned. "You reckon we can order refreshments?"

"Well, why not?" Irvine flashed a smile at Selphie, the irony of this being reminiscent of the moment when they were first introduced to Laguna and subsequently Ellone was lost on him. "You want to check out Esthar hospitality?" he was back on form now the pressure was off.

Before anyone could reply, Edea approached them. "OK, we've checked in then." she informed them before handing each of the group are card which they all looked at cluelessly.

"Uh, what do we do with these?" Selphie finally broke the silence.

Even Edea pulled a face. "Don't ask me how they work." She told them. "Apparently, if you go to one of the lifts, you just flash your card at some sensor and it'll take you straight to your room. Just use it if you want to get anything like food and drink as well. They say the palace is providing everything anyway."

"Don't lifts just go up and down?" Selphie was puzzled.

"Just up and down?" Zell looked at her. "In this place? I don't think so somehow."

The final part seemed more important to Irvine. "So, do we accept their hospitality in the restaurant then?" he addressed the group, but seemed mainly focused on Selphie.

"Do you really think we should?" Squall finally broke his silence.

"Well, why not?" Quistis reasoned. "I'm not saying we should take advantage, but I think they'd at least expect us to have a meal and something to drink."

"It has been a long day Squall." Zell admitted.

"Yeah! We should! It's been a while since we've been able just to have fun as a group anyway!" Selphie was enthusiastic.

"It's been a longer day for me." Squall shook his head and even looked apologetic. "I'm not in the mood anyway. Go and relax if you want, but I wouldn't be much fun. I'll get something on my own." In spite of himself, he managed to smile. "I'm sure we can at least get room service in this place."

The group all returned the smile. "OK, you probably should get some rest then Squall." Quistis nodded.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I'll join you." Edea spoke. "I too, have many things on my mind."

The group nodded and watched as Squall and Edea strode off towards the lifts, stifled a chuckle as they watched the system get the better of them and a porter had to assist them, then turned to face each other.

"Shall we then?" Irvine enquired.

"Well, what is it?" Biggs enquired as he threw the door to the bridge opened, slightly surprised at how the crew didn't back away as usual, but actually appeared pleased to see him.

"Sir, listen to this!" a technician pulled off his earphones and handed them to him.

Biggs snatched the earphones off the man and thrust them over his ears. Every frequent interval he heard a beep, starting loudly but fading away gradually to silence, followed by the same noise seemingly in reverse.

"What am I meant to be listening to?" he snapped at the technician.

"It's sonar, sir." The technician informed him. "We send sound waves down into the ocean, they rebound off the floor and from the time it takes, we can calculate the depths."

"So?" Biggs snarled; he hadn't got out of bed just to listen to a lecture on deep sea exploration.

"Well, up until today, we'd never got any reading at all, the ocean was too deep."

"So you woke me up, to tell me, we're at a shallower part of the ocean?" Biggs' fury started to rise again.

"There was no gentle rise, sir." Wedge interjected. "We were going along, with nothing, and then all of a sudden, we were getting a response that the floor was only about 2 miles below us."

"The sonar is good to 3 miles." The technician continued. "That means something has just jutted out at least a mile from the ocean floor with no rise at all."

"We carried out further tests in the area around where it started." Another technician offered his piece. "From the results we've got, here's the topographic image." he gestured to the screen he was sitting in front of.

The screen showed entirely dark green, save for the top corner where a bright green square that filled it.

"Could you please, just spare me the technical details, and get to the point?" Biggs spoke, exasperated through gritted teeth.

"What you're seeing is a pillar, at least 1 mile deep forming a perfect right-angle above the ocean floor." Wedge explained.

"Impossible!" Biggs snorted. "Nothing natural could form that."

"Exactly!" The technician cut in.

"You mean…" Biggs finally thought he understood why he'd been woken up.

"We don't know for sure." Wedge cut in. "We've sent divers down to try and get some visual, we should be getting some results through soon." he gestured towards a screen where video relay was coming through. All they could see so far was cloudy images from where the light was shining through the water. For five minutes, no more words were spoken, but then the crew all craned forwards as something black seemed to approach, their eyes bulging as the image on the screen came into sharper focus.

"You!" Biggs spun round and pointed towards where one sailor was sitting by a telephone, smiling for the first time in over a month. "Put me straight through to the presidential residence in Deling City!"

"Is this even edible?" Zell peered at the morsel attached to the end of his fork.

"It's nice. Some shellfish they get round here!" Selphie chewed through her meal with every sign of enjoyment.

"The recipe says it's called 'calamari'." Quistis shrugged. "I think it tastes a bit like onion rings."

Zell instantly spat his food out. "I've heard of calamari! That's squid!" he choked.

"Really?" Irvine looked up. "I'd never have thought of trying squid before, but I have to say, it's quite nice." he swallowed. "And we can order more, can't we?" he grinned this time.

"Sorry Zell, I don't think you're getting hotdogs over here." Selphie giggled.

"Every city should have hotdogs." Zell muttered, slightly disgruntled.

"Well Zell, I can see steak on the menu." Irvine offered. "Does that help matters?"

"As long as they don't do it rare." Zell muttered again.

"So you want meat, but won't even accept it done properly?" Irvine raised a grin. "I'll ask the waitress for one!" he noted Zell's glower, smoothed his hair back and excused himself. It was the group's turn to notice Selphie's displeasure this time.

"What?" Zell raised an eyebrow.

"Well, it's…" Selphie looked uncomfortable.

Quistis quickly cut in however. "You can't choose it Selphie." she offered. "He's made it clear." she sighed slightly. "You can either respond or reject him."

"Uhh, is this girl talk time?" Zell realised his position.

"Why? Is there something you need to talk about?" Quistis teased.

"A certain girl from the library?" Selphie added.

"Well, I have to say, I'm worried about Squall." Zell admitted.

"And you're not the only one." Irvine admitted as he returned to the table. "Sorry to get all serious, but…"he scratched his head. "I feel kind of guilty!"

"What do you mean?" Selphie was intrigued.

"Ah, man." Irvine avoided anyone's gaze. "Well, I think we all noticed how removed he was from everyone."

"He doesn't like to reveal himself." Quistis agreed.

"Except around Rinoa." Irvine added, at which they all either shrugged or nodded, nobody quite willing to concede what he was saying until he'd said his entire piece. "So, I thought I'd try and hook them up, and it kinda worked. But then he lost Rinoa, and well… I know he found it hard to get over Ellone, now he's finding it worse. I… just well.. feel, if I'd never said anything about Ellone, or tried to set him and Rinoa up, I'd never have made him feel even worse that he is now."

"But we're here to see Ellone!" Selphie piped up. "She'll put them together again."

The rest of the group avoided her eyes.

"Selphie…" Irvine tried to begin.

"I'll do this one." Quistis offered. "Why don't you boys go to the bar and get another beer or something?"

"We'll do that." Zell answered, sounding subdued as they made their exit.

"Selphie…" Quistis began subtlety, but realised there was no easy way around it. "Selphie, there are no guarantees anywhere I'm afraid. I know you like to look on the bright side of things, but it doesn't always work the way you want. I know from experience. I'm sorry."

"At least I see the bright side of things!" Selphie gulped as Quistis realised she'd hit her harder than she'd intended to.

"But you might never see the bright side." Quistis sighed. "I'm starting to see what Squall meant. As long as you don't get your hopes up, you won't get disappointed."

"Oh man. My turn I guess." Zell sighed. "Irvine, you could never have known man. You did what you thought was best. And it was, it's just…"

"No-one could've known what would happen." Selphie finished. "We all knew what you were trying to do. What happened with Rinoa was…"

"Something else." Quistis finished.

"Look, I'm not hungry anymore." Zell scratched his head. "How about we just get up tomorrow and be there for Squall?"

The group nodded and made their way to their rooms, very much surprising the waitress who brought out the best cut of steak on the menu to an empty table. She at least was pleased to ensure it didn't go to waste.

Across the ocean, things were not going so well.

"Sir, we can have this excavated within a month." The aide was saying. "But the cost will be…"

"…Too slow!" Seifer interjected. "I want it finished by tomorrow morning."

"But sir!" The aide gasped. "We just don't have the resources!"

"And why not?" Seifer slid an evil eye at his aide, having the desired effect of making him cower.

"Well, for starters, the amount of divers needed…"

"Pull them all in." Seifer retorted. "Anyone with diving experience."

"Well, that's fine." The aide pulled his collar loose. "But we simply don't have enough ships to transport them or oxygen to supply them to all…"

"Then FIND THEM!" Seifer drew himself up to full height towards his aide.

"But sir!" The aide begged. "The only way we could do that would be to commission fishing boats and take…"

"DO IT!!!!" Seifer roared, grabbing his gun blade, as his aide scuttled away in terror, neither sure of who he was more afraid of; Seifer, or the public who were bound to be appalled.

The group all slept uneasily that night. Squall only had thoughts for Rinoa. Edea had nightmares about being possessed again and viewing herself wreaking terror, unable to stop herself. Guilt was plaguing Irvine for something he'd only tried to help with. Selphie wasn't liking the idea of looking on the darker side of life and both Zell and Quistis were concerned with how their friends were doing. None of this showed in the morning however as the group gathered in the lobby the following morning where Amis was waiting for them.

"Good morning." he greeted them more cordially this time now that he didn't feel he had to be on his guard. "Did you all sleep well?"

"Very well thank you." Edea lied. "It was very good of you to put us up like this."

"Not at all." Amis replied. "I spoke to the President yesterday who asked me to extend you every courtesy on this trip."

"Well… Thank you very much." Edea replied, uncertain as to what they'd done to receive such privileges. She turned round to the rest of the group who looked either impressed, or merely shrugged as if to say 'Don't ask me why!'

"Is everyone ready to leave?" Amis enquired of the group who all nodded or responded in the affirmative, Squall most eagerly of all. "Well then, we have a group taxi waiting outside. Would you care to follow me please?"

With that, the group boarded the taxi and allowed themselves to be escorted through Esthar. Whilst they were slowly coming to terms with Esthar, they remained fascinated by the views of the city. They travelled for over an hour, exchanging few words other than to point out various sights of interest that caught their interest, Amis doing his best to explain them to the group. It was after about an hour and a half when they noticed that the city below the high roads was becoming shallower and the buildings above them shorter. Soon, the road they were travelling on was firmly on the ground and the buildings, despite the futuristic architecture remaining, were no taller than the houses back home.

"Suburban Esthar, huh?" Irvine grinned.

"We're leaving the city?" Quistis turned to Amis.

"The base is about another hour outside the city." Amis nodded. "The base was built as far away from the city as we could in case of any accidents during the early days."

"Accidents?" Squall tuned into the conversation. "What kind of accidents? Is Rinoa in any danger?"

"None whatsoever." Amis reassured him. "The base itself was built during Adel's reign, mainly to conduct research into Lunatic Pandora; specifically the connection between the moon and Tears Point. With something that was believed to be linked to the Lunar Cry, they decided researching in the city wasn't a wise idea. I'm sure the fate of Centra is well known to you?"

The group all nodded; the destruction of Centra by the Lunar Cry was a well known historical piece.

"So why are we going to somewhere linked to the Lunar Cry?" Squall was still on guard.

"Calm down, Mr Leonheart." Amis laughed slightly. "I said it WAS built for research into Lunatic Pandora. It serves a very different purpose now."

"What purpose?" Zell was intrigued.

"Two really. It is called the Sorceress Memorial. The garden was built as a tribute to all those who suffered during the Sorceress War under Adel's rule."

"Why all the way out here?" Irvine asked.

"It was the site where Adel was defeated and confined." Amis informed them.

"So what happened there?" Edea asked. The group all leaned forward, interested; the fate of Adel and the end of the Sorceress War was still a mystery outside of Esthar. "I mean, who inherited her powers?"

"Yeah, how did the war end?" Zell enthused. "No-one knows what happened there!"

"This is what I was starting to tell you about yesterday." Amis sat back, happy to answer their questions. "The answer is: Nobody received Adel's powers because we never killed her." He paused to examine the reaction on the faces of the group.

"You mean she IS still out there?" Edea enquired.

"Yes and no." Amis replied. "She is alive in the loosest possible sense of the word. It was one of the big debates in the Adel Resistance Movement, of which I was a member myself."

The group nodded, not wanting to reveal that they already knew this through Laguna's dream.

"Well, as long as she was still alive, she was capable of wreaking havoc. If we killed her, someone else would have received her powers as I'm sure you're aware." he glanced towards Edea at this point, who merely nodded in agreement. "So we didn't want that either. Not every Sorceress is benign like yourself." Edea smiled this time. "And so there was the risk that by killing Adel we may have given her powers to someone even worse. So in the end, it was decided to imprison her."

"But what sort of prison could have held a Sorceress so powerful?" Edea was intrigued.

"A VERY special one." Amis nodded his agreement. "Adel was subdued and placed in a cryogenic field keeping her in a coma in suspended animation."

"A coma which she could never wake up from?" Squall spoke up.

"Ah, things begin to come together now?" Amis smiled at Squall. "That is why Doctor Odine told me he wanted to examine your friend Rinoa, to see if there were similarities between the state she is in and the state we left Adel in."

"And?" Squall sat up in expectation.

"I don't know." Amis replied. "I'm not a doctor!" he added seeing Squall's reaction. "Doctor Odine sent the information he gathered, along with Rinoa to the base. If Ellone can find out what happened to her, there is a good chance we can compare the effects and find a way to revive her."

A wave of relief swept over the group. "Thank you!" Squall finally smiled.

"Not a problem." Amis waved his hand as if was neither here nor there. "It always helps us to further our knowledge anyway. Let's just say we're doing each other a favour, yes?"

"Either way suits us!" Irvine grinned.

"Glad to hear it." Amis smiled back. "So then, to answer your other questions. Mainly to do with the sealing of our border. As you probably know, we declared an end to the war the instant Adel was defeated. We had our means to deal with Adel; our next concern was, as you can imagine, political backlash from other countries. Especially if they found out Adel wasn't dead. Two worries: Some fanatic may try and free her. Other countries may demand an execution and set up someone more dangerous with her powers, as I explained before. One solution: seal our border and make it our problem. From what we've gathered, it seems to have worked up until now. Most people seemed to be content enough with the fact that the war was over."

"So you said this place was a memorial with two purposes?" Zell regressed the conversation a bit. "Let me guess, the other purposes is Adel's prison, right?"

"Close, but not quite." Amis nodded. "To seal Adel fully, we had to make sure she couldn't be freed by anyone, so the prison, or 'Adel's Tomb' as it's known had to be shielded from all electromagnetic and sound waves, including light, radio, telepathic and other junctioning pathways."

"That's impossible, surely." Quistis interjected. "There's nowhere on earth you could achieve that."

"Quite right." Amis grinned broadly this time. "We sent the prison into orbit, where it is constantly monitored via our satellite and space station."

"In SPACE?" Squall finally took this in

"It's the most inaccessible prison in the world!" Amis kept grinning. "It's also where we're keeping Ellone to protect her from Ultimecia. Although, she enjoys much more luxurious accommodation of course. No, the memorial is also the base where we launch our shuttle ships between here and Adel's Tomb. It's the only access point to it in the whole world."

"That explains a few things." Zell nodded. "Radio communication for a start."

"And why we had to spend overnight at the hotel." Irvine agreed. "We certainly couldn't have gone straight there from the Palace."

"What do you mean?" It was Amis' turn for questions.

"Well, I'm guessing there's a lot of preparation in sending one of these shuttles up to the Tomb." Irvine replied.

"No, not that." Amis shook his head. "Well, yes, you're quite right. You're lucky we were sending someone up there today anyway, it normally takes a good couple of weeks. I mean what you said about radio communication?"

"Ever since the end of the war, worldwide radio communication became impossible." Quistis explained. "Most channels are just covered in static. I'm guessing that the protective field around Adel's Tomb scrambles the waves too much."

"Are you serious?" Amis was unsure how to react to this, this was certainly news to him.

"All trans-continental communication is now done by cable." Zell nodded. "Except there's a lot of areas where the cables have been damaged by monsters etc."

"Well… this is one side effect we weren't aware of." Amis looked around uncomfortably.

"I don't think this is something worth getting too upset about." Edea broke in. "I think keeping the world at peace from Adel, and subsequently Ultimecia is a lot more important than whether people can watch their favourite TV programmes."

"Well, I'm glad you agree." Amis breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, I think that's all the important details. Any other questions?"

Squall looked up, out of the window for a few minutes, then back at Amis.

"I'm really going into space?"

"Is that the base? I thought it would be bigger!" Selphie looked around at her surroundings, feeling slightly disappointed as she stepped out of the taxi.

"This is it, sorry." Amis smiled, slightly apologetically at her. "It only really serves as a memorial spot for the war and the connection point for those going to Adel's Tomb. It doesn't really need anything else. Well, shall we go inside?"

He led the way into a small control room where he was greeted by a member of the facility.

"Hello Amis." She was a young woman, sporting blonde hair, only slightly below her shoulders. She was dressed in a smart, silver suit and trousers, unlike the robes they'd seen the majority of the people in Esthar wearing. "My name's Sylphia. May I ask who it is whose travelling?"

"I am." Squall replied simply as he stepped forwards.

"OK." Sylphia nodded. "The girl Rinoa's already on board. Is there anyone else travelling?"

The group had a quick conference.

"Well, are we all going?" Irvine inquired, not quite sure if he fancied the trip into space.

Edea shook her head. "I have to return to the city to see Doctor Odine. As long as I still possess the Sorceresses power, I am still a danger to everyone."

"Then I don't think you should travel alone." Amis remembered why he had initially been concerned.

"I don't want to put any of you at risk." Edea smiled.

Unperturbed, Zell stepped forward. "Matron, I would be honoured to serve as your guard again, after all you've done for us."

"Are you sure Zell?" Squall checked.

"I have no problem if he wants to." Edea's smile was kinder this time. "I suppose I should have someone to stay with me, just in case really. Especially SeeDs."

The group laughed, but not too hard; it was a way of venting some of the tension more than the humour of the moment.

"Then you should all stay." Squall nodded. "My mission is now in my hands. Everyone else, your task is to guard Matron now."

"Hey! It's still our business!" Selphie protested. "You and Rinoa are our friends. We care about you two as well!"

"She's right, Squall." Quistis patted him lightly on the arm. "Look, this is a big trip. You don't know what you might find. Whatever happened to Rinoa, whatever we find, the answers may be something we can help with. I'll come with you."

"Yeah! Me too!" Selphie leapt in excitement.

"Well, if that's where we're going…" Irvine nodded, uneasily.

"No, we shouldn't all go." Squall shook his head. "You're right, I would appreciate the company, but I have to consider what's more important. Irvine, I can see you don't really want to, so I won't force you. Selphie, you should stay as well."

The group all looked surprised at this; Squall had always tried to keep Irvine and Selphie apart.

"Irvine needs someone to look after him, I think." Squall smiled this time. "Besides which, we have a shooter, a close range fighter, and should something happen to Matron, Selphie's our next best magic user. I think that completes the team really."

They all nodded in agreement. "What about me?" Quistis spoke up.

"Do you still want to come?" Squall asked.

"I can't let you go on your own." She replied. "For any number of reasons."

"Then these are the travellers." Squall turned to Sylphia.

"Well then, through this door…" Sylphia led them away.

The rest of the group watched in silence as their friends were led away, to go further than any of them had ever travelled before.

"They'll be fine. Don't worry about it." Amis reassured them. "Come on, this part is done; we should get back to the city. Doctor Odine is expecting you." he led them back to where the taxi was waiting.

The return journey felt longer to the group and was completed mainly in silence once again; this time not through the fascination of their surroundings, but through worry of their friends. Despite Amis' reassuring words, the thought of leaving the planet was something the group had never even considered and as far as they were concerned, Squall and Quistis were heading into a whole new world.

This point was put forward by a thoughtful Irvine as they disembarked outside Odine's lab back in the city.

"Just think though, most people back home would have thought that about us going into Esthar!" Selphie piped up. "What will people say when we tell them about what we've seen?"

Before anyone could answer, the group were interrupted by a distant rumbling sound.

"What's that?" Irvine turned to Amis, who for once, was at a loss for words.

"I don't know. It sounds like thunder, but…" they all turned their heads upwards to see a cloudless sky.

"Thunder doesn't keep on rumbling like that either." Zell remarked.

"It's probably nothing, but we should probably have a look." Amis seemed a tad concerned. "Follow me." he gestured to a nearby platform with chairs all around the edge. Zell recognised it as one of the lifts that he'd seen in Laguna's dream and hence was the only one other than Amis who failed to be surprised as it suddenly levitated and began to carry the group up above the city.

"Where are we going?" Irvine asked.

"Just up to the skyway." Amis replied, seemingly a bit more calmer than he looked. "It's the highest road in the city. Only the palace is higher. We're just going to have a bit of a lookout, just in case."

The lift set them down, the entire city stretching down below them.

"Look at this!" Selphie exclaimed. "You can see everywhere…" she stopped abruptly as she faced the direction the rumbling was coming from.

The group all turned to face the same way, their eyes bulging as they saw what she did. Amis meanwhile had dropped to his knees, his face as pale as a sheet of paper, and pure terror in his eyes. Slowly manifesting itself on the horizon was the biggest thing they'd ever seen. Ash black, almost monolithic in appearance, all light appeared to be swallowed by it. The top of the structure was the narrowest part as it slowly tapered out becoming bigger and bigger. It was already twice as high as the mountains around the Great Salt Lake from which it had come and it was getting bigger and bigger as it got closer and closer…


End file.
